Kings and Shadows
by Suricatessen
Summary: Back from the Crimson Claws, Yugo and the Brotherhood of the Tofu look forward to some well-earned rest after they saved the World of Twelve once again. Or did they? Maybe there's still some evil lurking in the shadows. Contains massive spoilers for the whole show.
1. The warning

The golden sun blazed over an endless sea of grass. Lone trees swayed in the wind and wild flowers of every colour speckled the landscape. From the rolling hills to the distant mountains, the meadow carried with it a nearly intoxicating feeling of life. And peace.

The only one enjoying the view was a thirteen year old boy lying down under the shade of a tree. The blue, fox-eared hat he wore was soft enough to make a good pillow, but now was not the time for sleeping. There was the entire world to see, his entire life to experience. Besides, he could study the inside of his eyelids any time he wanted to. He stood up and grabbed a bright yellow fruit dangling from the tree's lower branches. It seemed ripe and tasted great, even if he didn't know what it was. He started to keep on going when a realization struck him.

_Where am I?_

He couldn't remember coming to this place, let alone where this place was. He suddenly felt lost, his stomach tightening as though he would fall into the sky if he didn't grab on to something first.

Something grabbed his free hand from behind. The boy yelped and turned around, dropping his half-eaten snack. A little girl looked back at him. She wore the same kind of funny hat he did, except it was white just like her dress. Strands of long blonde hair emerged from it, reaching her shoulders. She stared at him with her large blue eyes, a faint smile on her lips.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you," the boy started. "What are you doing here? Are you alone?"

"I came here to talk to the King," she answered like it was obvious, as if the boy should have known.

"The King? But…What are you talking about? What King?" the boy stammered nervously.

"You. You're the King."

"No, I'm not. You must be confusing me with someone else," the boy insisted, but he didn't even sound convincing to himself. _There was no way she could have known_, he thought. _It was a secret. _"My name is—"

"I know who you are," she interrupted. "You _are_ the King. Don't pretend you're not. I don't have that much time. I came here because I have important things to show you. Follow me."

She turned around and headed towards the nearest hill, and at this moment the boy noticed she was going barefoot. But he didn't follow. Instead he picked up the red fruit that was still laying at his feet and considered it for a moment. Something about it disturbed him, although he couldn't say what. Something about this whole place disturbed him.

"What are you waiting for? I told you, we don't have much time," the girl said impatiently, hands on her hips.

"I don't recognize this place," he hesitated. "Where are we?"

He tried again to remember how he got there, but drew a blank. The girl still had the same faint smile on her lips. It was starting to irritate him.

"The only reason you're here is to see what I have to show you. Follow me now."

"No," he said firmly, shaking his head. "I'm not going anywhere. Not if you don't answer me."

The little girl sighed heavily. "You're still so stubborn. Will you never change?"

"_Still_ so stubborn?" he repeated. "Have we met already?"

"Yes. It's not important. I will answer so we can move on. This place doesn't exist. I can only talk to you while you're sleeping."

"You mean that…we're in a dream?" he exclaimed, astonished.

"We're in _your_ dream, yes."

"So none of this is real?"

"Just because it's happening inside your head doesn't mean it's not real. I don't come from your imagination. If anything, you came from mine. I have a message for you, and very little time to deliver it, so will you please follow me already?"

Once again she grabbed his hand and started tugging him up the hill. This time he did not resist, still puzzled by what he had just heard. At the top, he looked back over his shoulder, but the landscape had shifted abruptly. The tree he had rested under earlier had disappeared past the horizon. Startled, he yanked his hand out of the grasp of the little girl. She flashed him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Nothing bad can happen to you here. Take a good look around."

From where they stood, they could see for miles and miles around them. More hills, more trees, and farther, standing above a huge forest, the boy immediately recognized the Tree of Life of the Sadida.

"You know that place, don't you?" the young girl asked.

The boy nodded. The Sadida kingdom was one of the very few places where he would feel at home.

"I love this place," he said fondly. "But…what's the point of showing it to me?"

"To warn you."

"Warn me? About what?"

The girl didn't answer. Instead she waved her hand at the horizon. The sky darkened, a cold breeze blew, and before the boy's horrified stare, as if it was suddenly contaminated by a deadly illness, the green fields changed into a barren desert covered in grey dust and dead trees. The song of the birds, the noise of insects, it all vanished. There was only an oppressive silence left, the silence of death.

"Why…why did you do that?"

"I did nothing. I'm just showing you the future."

The boy couldn't believe what he was seeing. The Tree of Life was still there, but it was entirely burnt. Everywhere he looked, there was only death. He felt his legs getting weak and fell to his knees into the dust, realising that it was in fact cold ashes.

"Future? This is no future! It's horrible…why are you showing me this?" he asked feebly.

The girl got close to him and took his hands into hers, trying to meet his gaze. At that moment, he realised she had a white flower attached to her hat. It was just a detail but somehow, he felt it was important, without understanding why.

"Because you're the only one who can see it. And because you're the only one who can prevent it."

The boy shook his head, entirely lost.

"Prevent _this_? I'd say you are overestimating me. I don't have that kind of power. How could I do that?"

"It should be much easier to fight the cause than the consequences you see there. The nations of the World of Twelve are going to tear themselves apart in a deadly war. You have to find why this war is going to start, and prevent it at all costs."

The boy kept staring at her, waiting for her to go on. But there was nothing more.

"What, that's all?" he said with disappointment. "You can't help me more than that? I have to find who in the world is responsible for _that_, all by myself?"

"Sadly I can't tell you more, because I can't see more. The culprits of this disaster are acting in the shadows, and only the consequences of their acts are visible to me. But if no one is aware of the danger, nothing will stop them. That is why I had to warn you, so that you can relay the message to the rulers of the World of Twelve. They must not fight each other, no matter what."

The boy scanned the horizon. The scene was so horrifying it felt surreal. He still found it hard to believe that such a terrible thing could actually happen. Then he looked back at the young girl in front of him, still holding his hands. Somewhere deep inside, he knew that he had already met her, but he couldn't put a name to her face. And then there was her way of talking, too mature for a child of her age. Something was definitely wrong about her. He finally asked the question that was burning his lips from the beginning.

"Who _are_ you?"

The girl had a very childish laugh.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. It's not important. What's important is that you remember what you saw here. You have to realise that even though the world doesn't look threatened at the moment, trouble will come very soon, much sooner than you would think. The fate of the world is resting on you. The fate of our people is resting on you. If the world is ruined, our people will have nowhere to return to."

The boy looked away, still not convinced, and frightened by the responsibility.

"You really believe I can manage that? I'm just a kid..."

The girl smiled and reached for his face. He didn't fight it, closing his eyes and letting her rest the palm of her hand on his forehead.

"You are a lot more than that, Yugo."

* * *

Yugo awoke with a start, drenched with sweat, his bed in a tangle of sheets. He stared at the ceiling for a long time, trying to understand where he was. He tried to clear his mind from the remains of that horrible, lucid dream.

He recognized the room he was in. It was the bedroom he shared with his brother at the Sadida palace. What he had a lot more trouble understanding was how he got there. And after some focusing and searching, it all came back to him at once.

The Crimson Claws. Phaeris. Emrub.

Qilby.

After the battle, they had flown back to the Sadida Kingdom, landing in the middle of the night. It had taken them several weeks to reach the Crimson Claws, but on Phaeris's back, they returned in only a few hours.

The guards had nearly wet themselves in terror when they had seen the dragon. A black silhouette in the night, his wings blocking out the moon and half the stars, Phaeris must have seemed like a nightmare given flesh to them. King Sheran Sharm, Prince Armand and Master Joris woke up during the racket and arrived quickly.

Alibert had appeared only moments later. Ignoring everything else he had rushed straight to Yugo with wide open arms, visibly worried when he had seen in what state his adoptive son had managed to put himself. The boy had tried to reassure him in vain; too tired to actually make any sound he had tried to whisper him reassuring words before giving in to exhaustion, immediately falling asleep into his father's arms.

Now he had his thoughts in order, the young Eliatrope sat in his bed and stretched his arms, jostling the golden Tofu that had been sleeping next to him. The tiny bird looked around in confusion, then he chirped joyfully when he saw his young master awake, throwing himself against the boy's face.

"Hey! I'm happy to see you too Az!" Yugo said, grinning widely.

He took the little bird in his hands and gently kissed him on top of the head. Feeling the little feathery ball in his hands always gave him the impression that everything was all right.

Golden sun rays were entering through the giant leaves that were blocking the balcony, painting glowing figures on the ground, and outside the birds were already singing on top of their voices; the day was already well advanced.

"Come on lil' Tofu, we need to get moving. It looks like it's already late, and-"

"You can say that again!" cut in a voice he knew very well.

Yugo turned with a wide grin towards the blue and white dragon who stood near the door. Adamaï looked in much better shape than he was just after their fight at the Crimson Claws, although he still bore a few wounds that were likely to never heal completely. The most visible was that his horns didn't have the same length any more; the left one had been cut clean through and half of it was missing.

The dragon walked in the room to stand near his brother's bed. "You just slept for two days straight, you big sloth. It's nearly noon."

"Two days! I thought I slept in, but two days?"

Adamaï opened the curtains wide, letting the sun in. Az flew around outside for a bit before landing on the top of Yugo's hat.

"You were completely drained bro," Adamaï said lightly. "I was too, by the way. How are you feeling?"

"I feel like a herd of gobballs ran over me," Yugo answered. His arms still bore the marks of his fight and his whole body ached with a dull pain. "But apart from that, I'm all right. I'm starving though."

"Alibert is going to fix that, he's preparing a huge lunch to celebrate our return. All our friends are there. This is why I came to wake you up in the first place."

Yugo was salivating at the idea of stuffing himself with his father's cooking. Had he really slept for two days? It certainly felt like he hadn't eaten in that long. Then he realised that it was also going to be his first chance to have a real talk with the Brotherhood of the Tofu about what happened at the Crimson Claws. And Yugo would rather have avoided that for the moment. The memories were still too fresh, both for him and his twin brother. The image of Qilby _begging_ him for mercy came back to him. He shook his head, trying to get rid of it.

When he opened his eyes Adamaï was right next to him, staring at him carefully. "You're sure everything's fine bro?"

"Yeah yeah, don't worry," Yugo said, trying to sound convincing. "Just, you know, trying to wake up."

Yugo sat on the edge of his bed and looked at what was left of his attire. His clothes had been torn to shreds in his fight, making the trip on Phaeris's back through the stratosphere very cold. "Uh…I guess I'll have to find something to wear."

"Ah, yeah. I've seen Alibert sewing you a brand new hat, he might have finished already, and Amalia has found you some new clothes. She asked her two valets to help her pick out something."

Adamaï winked mischievously. That made Yugo wince in horror when he imagined the kind of clothes he was going find. Maybe a leaf loincloth—_no—_with a braided flower collar—_NO—_and mushrooms on his—_NO!_

His dragon brother burst out laughing. "You should see your face right now! I'm joking of course. Or I am?"

"Yeah right, very funny."

He found a neat stack of clothes resting on a chair, and was relieved to see that it was pretty much the same attire he used to wear. He started putting them on quickly while Adamaï sat on his own bed, Az flying around until he landed right on top of the dragon's head.

"Did anything happen while I was out?" Yugo asked.

"You mean while you were snoring like a piglet?" Adamaï taunted. "Well, yeah. The King wants to assemble a council as soon as possible to hear about what happened with Qilby, the Crimson Claws and all that stuff. They've been on my back incessantly. They even wanted to get you out of bed yesterday. I tried to explain there was no reason to panic, that everything was already handled, but the rumours certainly haven't been reassuring."

"That's all?" Yugo replied. "This is going to be a piece of cake! We went there, we saved the world, thank you very much, and we get showered with hero worship." He was struggling to put his new tunic on without removing his hat, which resulted in both getting jammed together.

Adamaï sighed. "If you expect them to throw flowers at you, you're going to be disappointed."

The dragon's tired tone made Yugo wonder if he had understood correctly. He wasn't done with his tunic yet and looked at him through the hole that was meant for his arm. "What do you mean? We saved the world once again, didn't we? And we did it without ruining anyone's kingdom this time."

"Well, yes we did, but it's not _that_ simple. Little details bother people, like how we left like thieves in the night with Qilby and Grougal, taking the Eliacube with us. And then we come back with stories of treason, fratricidal fights, and while we did save the world, it was our fault it was threatened in the first place."

"Well of course, if you put it like that you can make anything sound bad."

"They're going to put it like that…On the other hand, if we stretch the truth a bit, maybe leave out a few details here and there..." Adamaï said meaningfully.

"No."

"Just a little?"

"Nope. The truth will have to do. I'm not lying to the King."

Adamaï stayed silent for a while, watching with an amused look as his brother finally managed to get his clothing issues sorted. "I know what's under your hat you know, you could have just taken it off."

"No thanks. That's out of the question."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't wear clothes bro, you can't understand."

Shaking his head in amused disbelief, Adamaï absent-mindedly touched the scar over his left eye. And seeing how he winced after doing it, the wound still hurt quite a bit.

"You're okay?" Yugo asked immediately, obviously worried.

"Yeah, it's just…it still stings."

"You think you're going to keep a scar?"

"I wouldn't mind."

Yugo laughed at that. "Yeah, that will make you look so fierce, Adamaï the Warrior!"

"No. That will remind me."

Yugo looked at his brother quizzically. "Remind you? About what?" Why would he need a scar to remember something?

"Remind me what can happen when trust is given too easily."

Adamaï was too serious for Yugo to try to joke about it. The Eliatrope sat next to his brother. "Qilby...What happened exactly?"

"He took me to the Zinit, and tried to convince me that it was the destiny of our people to travel the stars, even if we had to destroy entire worlds—this world—to do so. Obviously I wouldn't buy any of his insane nonsense, so we fought, and I did my best, but I still lost. When I woke up, _something_ was using my body to attack you and Phaeris. It was...it was..."

Adamaï shuddered violently. Yugo couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him to have been possessed by the Shushu Anathar. Was Adamaï conscious of the whole thing with Anathar controlling his arms and legs like the limbs of a puppet? Was he screaming the whole time, stuck in a dream he couldn't wake up from? Yugo put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He'd do anything to make his brother feel better, if he only knew what it was. Adamaï would often get depressed and sulk over little things, but for once he was clearly not overacting.

"But, I don't get it," Yugo said finally, frowning. "Why did you follow Qilby to the Zinit in the first place?"

His brother sighed. "It wasn't going very well with Grougal. He kept on lighting people on fire and trying to hunt the royal dragoturkeys, so Armand suggested that maybe we could find a better place to raise him. I was feeling down, Qilby took advantage of the situation to isolate me, and I _trusted_ him. I know I should have been more wary but..."

"You can't blame yourself like that bro. He fooled everyone, me most of all."

"Using the Eliacube wasn't your idea, Yugo. It was mine. If I had just _left_ it were it was, none of this would have happened."

"You never forced me to do anything. I used the Eliacube because I wanted to. And anyway, one day or another the King would have allowed us to use it, and then what? It would have been just the same. The only one responsible is Qilby, not you."

Adamaï didn't answer. He kept looking sullen, his gaze unfocused. "Maybe. Even if you're right, this isn't the worse just yet."

"What are you talking about?"

The dragon turned to face him. "The Eliacube. That's the main problem."

"How's that a problem? It's gone for good, at last."

"Precisely. And we have only your word to prove it, while everyone and their dragoturkey wants to get their hands on it."

Yugo raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe me?"

"Of course I do!" Adamaï cried, upset that his brother dared to question his trust. "But it's not me you'll have to convince. They're going to believe that you're keeping it hidden somewhere."

"Well, I only have the truth to offer. If it doesn't suit them, too bad."

Yugo got up, quickly putting on his new shorts and shoes, noting that Amalia did put a lot of effort to find the exact same thing he used to wear. He wondered if it wasn't even hand-made for him.

"Now _this_ suits me. How does it look?"

"I have no advice. I don't understand clothes remember? Besides, you shouldn't take that so lightly."

"I'm not, clothes are very imp...wait, what do you mean?"

"I'm afraid they're going to _demand_ answers, if you catch my meaning."

Yugo shook his head at that. "No way. They're just going to ask questions and we're going to give them honest answers about everything. The King respects us, and we're guests, not prisoners, so I don't see them trying to force us in any way. Stop worrying so much over little things Adamaï." he said those last words with a large grin, trying again to cheer him up.

It didn't work. "When you say everything, do you mean like, _everything_?"

That stopped Yugo dead in his tracks. There was only one thing his brother could be talking about, and he wasn't supposed to know just yet. "I don't see what you're talking about." he tried, without much conviction.

Adamaï laughed at that. "You're so bad at lying, please never try that in front of the King. He'll send us all directly to jail for insulting his intelligence."

The young Eliatrope scowled so Adamaï tried a more gentle approach.

"All right, I'm sure you understand the problem Yugo," he said softly. "It's already going to be hard to get out of this unscathed. If on top of that you let them believe that our own King was a murderous psychopath who wanted to let all the Shushus loose into the world before using it as fuel for his starship, this is going to get a lot worse. No one will want to deal with the Eliatropes after that. At least the Sadida still see you as a Hero. You have a lot of credibility with them. It would be great for the image of the Eliatrope people if you just stepped forward."

Yugo thought back to the Eliatrope children who had welcomed him in Emrub, looking up at him with so much hope, so much expectation in their eyes. That was too much responsibility, too quick, too soon. He wasn't ready for it yet.

"I haven't decided anything yet. But anyway, how do _you_ know!" he said, much more aggressively than he intended.

"Calm down. Phaeris told me when we were waiting for you back at the Crimson Claws. No one else knows." He stopped suddenly. "Hold on. Were you really planning on not telling me? Did you forget I'm your brother somehow?"

Yugo felt his face growing hot. He met his brother's disappointed gaze and a huge pang of shame hit him square in the chest.

"Adamaï I'm sorry…I didn't want to hide it from you, I swear, but…it just happened too fast. I'm not ready for this just yet. I have no idea how to handle that. Please forgive me."

The dragon nodded slowly and stayed silent for a while, thinking it over.

"It's okay. I forgive you," he said calmly. Maybe too calmly to be honest, but Yugo didn't catch it. He was too busy being relieved that he had not destroyed their mutual trust so stupidly.

"I understand," Adamaï continued. "And in your shoes I would have likely reacted the same way. I understand this is difficult for you and I don't want to make it any harder than it already is. But then again, what are you going to tell the King?"

Yugo scratched the back of his hat for a while before answering. There weren't that many possibilities, and he didn't like any of them.

"I don't know. Can't we just talk about it later?"

"Well you don't have that much time, but sure. Whenever you like, bro."

"Right now I just want to go see our friends," he said, trying to change subjects quickly. "What do you say?"

"Sounds good," Adamaï replied. "And more importantly, we're going to stuff ourselves silly until we explode!"

Az chirped in agreement as the twins headed outside, being as rowdy as ever. On their way out, Yugo glanced at Cra guards in front of their door as Adamaï greeted them politely.

"Royal guards in front of our bedroom, really?" Yugo asked when they were a bit further. "Are they afraid we might run away?"

"No, we're free to come and go as we like. I told you, with all the rumours flying around, everyone's a bit nervous. There are a few extra guards on duty, but that's it."

Yugo shrugged, not convinced that they were at risk inside the palace. The Sadida Kingdom was already safe, so the palace must be the safest place of all. But as they made their way through the flourished corridors, decorated with live plants, Yugo thought back about the dream he had, and the strange little girl telling him to beware of that impression of security. The horrible vision of the Sadida Kingdom burnt to ashes came back him. He couldn't just ignore it, because it could very well be true. But what was he going to tell the King? Your Highness, please listen to me because I had a nightmare? And what if it was just a dream? Then no one would believe him when something serious was about to happen, and they'd probably just offer him a night light.

The boy shook his head and decided to deal with that later. What mattered most was to enjoy the moment with his friends. His father and his brother, the two people he had missed the most, were there too. He had every reason to rejoice, and when he realised it, he couldn't restrain himself from grinning sheepishly. Adamaï saw that and cast his brother a curious glance, but he remained silent.

"What?" Yugo asked. "I'm not allowed to be happy?"

"I didn't say anything."

Yugo suddenly shoved his brother into the wall in response. "You thought it! That's just as bad!" he laughed.

"Just you wait 'til I catch you!" Adamaï growled.

Using the wall to propel himself forward, the dragon flew head first right at his brother with all his might, and little care for possible injuries. Thanks to his split second reflexes Yugo avoided him by diving into one of his portals. Quickly, the corridor became a mess, filled with dust, loud noises and laughter.

Yes, it was just a dream.

* * *

Far away in the city of Bonta, a man strolled casually down the hall of a lavish estate as though he owned the place. He didn't, and the real owner would not likely be happy to see him, but such was life. His steps made no sound as he climbed the central staircase, or at least none that could be heard over the din of smashing furniture and angry screams from a room somewhere behind him. If they kept that up, someone was bound to hear, but that too was life.

The man wore an elegant outfit made of grey pants and a white shirt, light and functional enough that it wouldn't impair his movement. Along with his messy black hair and bone white skin, only his blue eyes held a speck of colour. Twin sabres crossed behind his back, their sheaths attached to a leather harness, their hilts protruding above his shoulders.

He wasn't sure what would happen if he ran into a guard, but that was the guard's problem. He stopped to notice an expensive three hundred year old painting of fleeting romance in a glade. "It's true," he noted as he continued on his way, following the floor plan he had memorized earlier. "You can't buy taste with kamas."

He opened a door at the end of a hallway and walked into an office. The room was even more crowded with bronze sculptures and tacky paintings than the rest of the manor. Its massive windows and massive desk made the pudgy old man sitting at the massive chair look even smaller than he normally would have. He had two ridiculous wings sprouting from behind his back, typical of the Eniripsa healers. They were much too small to lift him.

"Good morning, Greb Merun," the intruder said warmly.

The old Eniripsa looked up and peered at him over his spectacles. "Who are you? You're not wanted here! Get out."

"Well that's a friendly hello," he noted. "I come all this way to meet you, and as soon as I'm here you tell me to get out. I'm afraid I can't comply. And for the sake of this already pleasant conversation, my name is Lucien, for all the good it will do you."

"We're not having a conversation of any kind, and I told you to get out already. If you can't take the time to make an appointment, I don't have time to talk to you. Now leave or I'll have the guards make you leave."

"You're welcome to try," Lucien tempted, sitting down into a soft chair. Ironically, it took more skill and practice to sit back comfortably wearing sabres on your back than it did to wield them. "But I don't think you'll have much luck with that."

"Oh," Merun said. His voice grew suddenly calm as understanding struck him. "I see. I know why you're here then, and who sent you, even though I didn't expect your visit that soon. May I take it then, that my guards are dead?"

"You may. Or they nearly are if they aren't already, but I don't deal with those matters personally. I prefer more...subtle approaches."

"I see. May I say something?"

Lucien sighed. He had seen that before, been there, done that. "Nothing you may say will change my mind. Not that I wouldn't want to consider your request for mercy if it were up to me, but it's not."

"Oh it's already settled then, is it?" Greb spat, his face contorting in sudden anger. "Then by all means, kill me. Punish me for my sins. I've killed people for my research, but know this, dear Lucien. If I die now, all their deaths will mean nothing. Every child that gets sick and dies, every plague that my research could have saved, that will by on your head. Not mine."

"That's really fascinating," Lucien jeered distractedly.

"You're not even listening to me, are you?"

"Oh, I am. You said something about how I should kill you, but I kind of started tuning you out after that. Not that your story isn't interesting, mind you, but it really doesn't matter to me. Anyway, are you done yet? I do have other jobs today."

The Eniripsa shook his head in disbelief and contempt. "You kill people, yet you're not concerned to know if they really deserved it?"

"That's someone else's problem Greb, not mine. I worry about my own life, and life is so much simpler when you understand your place in the world. Mine, for example, is to do my Master's bidding. It's straightforward, it lets me meet lots of interesting people, and if he wants me to kill you, that's fine, because that's what I'm good at. I know how to kill people, and if you don't know how to die, then make it up as you go along. It's the improvisation that keeps this job interesting. It's the final act of the play. Are you going to die tragically, comically, ironically, violently, heroically, or my personal favourite, ignominiously?"

Merun studied him for a while before answering. "Tragically, if I may. Would you mind if I wrote a few parting words to my family? I'd like to set my affairs in order."

"By all means," Lucien replied. "You're welcome to spend the rest of your life on it."

Merun nodded, opened up his desk drawer, and whipped out a pistol. "So, my dear friend, what do you think of that!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "Is it ironic, tragic, heroic, or..."

His voice trailed off as he pointed his weapon at where his would-be assassin had been sitting, slowly realizing the chair was now empty. The whole room was empty, except for the Eniripsa. But that couldn't be. He couldn't have just vanished into thin air, he couldn't have—

A sharp blade pierced into his back, straight to his heart. "Ironically it is, then," Lucien whispered in his ear from behind. "Nice last words too. But I'm a professional Sram, and I've done this job more times than I can count. Today just isn't your day, Greb." He frowned thoughtfully. "Or, more precisely, it is."

The Eniripsa's eyes bulged, his mouth fell open; he tried to scream but he couldn't make any sound. He blew his last breath before slumping forward onto his desk.

Lucien checked to make sure the target was dead. Not many people could survive being stabbed through the heart, but it never hurt to be certain. He hadn't used his sabres, too heavy for that kind of precision job, but his favourite weapon instead. It was his right-handed leather gauntlet with a five inch long retractable blade. But it wasn't just a regular gauntlet, with its one eye looking back at the Sram with satisfaction.

"So Akula, what did you think of him?" he asked his Shushu.

"Well, not bad," the demon answered with a suave, feminine voice. "He did talk a lot, but then silencing him was only more enjoyable."

The Sram wiped the blade on the victim's clothes.

"Perfect. I hope you're in good shape, because we have barely gotten started."

The Shushu laughed the way demons laugh, the sort of laugh that makes children wake up screaming. "You keep being so nice to me Lucien."

He smiled easily and finished cleaning the Shushu's blade before retracting it. The door burst open and another man stumbled into the room. He was covered in blood and black tattoos, and his blank, white eyes looked frantic and angry.

"What's up Farkas? I hope the guards didn't give you too much trouble," Lucien said politely.

"I wouldn't have had any trouble at all if _somebody_ didn't decide to just walk through the front door!"

"I'm sorry. I was certain that we could have talked our way through it."

"Talked our way through it?" Farkas repeated incredulously. "How is, 'We're here to kill your boss,' at all talking our way through it?"

"I talked, and I got through it," Lucien replied casually. "I don't know what your problem was. Oh, right, Sacriers can't turn invisible, can you? You can't really do much besides bleed to death anyway. I don't know why I keep on forgetting that. It must have slipped my mind."

Farkas opened his mouth as if to speak, throbbing with anger. It was easy to confuse Sacriers with Iops, but Lucien learned the difference long ago. While Iops failed to master skills like common sense, Sacriers chafed at the limits of sanity. Would Farkas attacked? Lucien knew he wanted to, and the Sacrier was impulsive by nature. Fighting him would be...inconvenient, even if he won. But no, they would both live to see another day. Farkas went to examine the corpse instead.

"You killed him?"

"Yep."

The Sacrier examined the body before turning back to Lucien, furious.

"It was supposed to look like an _accident_! What kind of an accident was that supposed to be? Did he slip and impale himself on some sword?"

"I'm sure he died in the same tragic accident that killed all the guards downstairs," the Sram said flatly.

"But…you can't leave evidence everywhere like that!"

"As a matter of fact, I can. I appear, I kill, I disappear. It's really that simple."

"And what about me? How do _I_ disappear?"

"You could learn," Lucien suggested. "Or you could bleed to death. I honestly don't care one way or another."

"That won't work Lucien! The Master asked us to work together!"

"Oh really? Well, I'm the last person to start questioning the Master's wisdom, and I'm sure that your constant badgering did nothing to influence the Master's decision. I'm sure that he didn't finally give in and let you shadow me just to get you to shut up for a change."

Farkas face paled as Lucien stepped calmly towards him.

"It's amazing how easy it is to listen to conversations when you're invisible." the Sram continued. "I know that you're willing to do anything to try and get my spot, and I welcome you to try. But if you get in my way... Well, I'm sure you can figure it out before I give you a good reason to bleed to death."

Farkas backed away, raising his fists defensively. "You really want it to end that way?"

"I don't. I'd just like you to stay out of my business. Do that, and you will live to be old. If at some point I need to use more convincing arguments, Akula shall deliver."

From under the Sram's sleeve came the Shushu-blade's distinctive cackling. Then Lucien disappeared like he always did, and there was silence. The Sacrier was almost expecting a knife in his back, but it never came.

"Totally nuts ..." he spat under his breath. Then he remembered he was standing a few feet away from a murder scene, and started running away while he still could.

* * *

_A/N_

_As we all wait for a third season, here comes my modest contribution to the very small yet very nice Wakfu fandom. I can't promise I'll publish new chapters regularly due to unforeseeable professional circumstances, but I'll try my best to deliver. Please feel free to tell whatever you think of it, it was a pleasure making it, it'll be a pleasure sharing it._

_I would like to warmly thank Slavok for his support, insight and guidance during the writing of this piece. Without him I reckon it wouldn't have gone anywhere. Quite a few paragraphs were actually written using four hands, which made both the making and the result a lot more enjoyable. Thanks mate._

_What do a Sram and a tax inspector have in common?_


	2. Sweet and bitter

"It's so cool, thanks a lot Dad!"

Yugo and Alibert stood inside the Enutrof's apartments. The young Eliatrope looked at his brand new hat in a mirror, pleased to see how it resembled his old one. Az had landed on top of his head, carefully checking how pretty he looked himself. In a corner of the room Chibi slept peacefully in his crib.

"I thought I'd taught you to take better care of your clothes," Alibert taunted. That made the boy grin as he turned towards his adoptive father. The Enutrof held what was left of his old fox-eared hat in his hands, sighing with nostalgia as he watched the shredded fabric.

"It's the one you had on the day I found you. Do you realise you could fit inside it whole?"

"No, I can't imagine that at all," Yugo said, smiling. "It's crazy to think it's the first time I need a new one, after all it went through."

Alibert preferred not to hear about how his son had managed to put himself into such a state. Ignorance was bliss, even though he knew he would hear about it soon enough, and it had something to do with Qilby. But this was not the time. Instead he opened his arms wide, inviting Yugo to a hug he could not refuse.

"It's so good to be able to hold you in my arms again, my little piwi. I've missed you so much."

The Enutrof would never complain, but knowing that his young son often put himself into mortal danger was a permanent ordeal, and Yugo was perfectly aware of that.

"I've missed you too Dad. I'm sorry you always have to worry that much over me."

Alibert shook his head and held his son by the shoulders.

"Don't ever apologize for that Yugo. I was perfectly aware of what I could expect from you since the very day I found you. You were never meant to have a quiet life," Alibert conceded softly, affectionately touching the boy's cheek. "Anyway, you can be sure of one thing son. I'm extremely proud of you."

Yugo found himself lost for words. He snuggled against his father's chest to hide his eyes as they suddenly became a bit too wet.

From the doorstep, Adamaï watched the scene with a certain detachment. Every time he saw Yugo and Alibert together, it would bring him back to his own childhood with Grougaloragran. A childhood just as happy and filled with love as Yugo's had been, even though his own adoptive father hadn't been that much...cuddly. And every time, it would remind him that Grougaloragran was gone, that he would never be there any more to comfort him or tell him how proud he was. Right, Grougal wasn't exactly dead, but the little fury he had become since his rebirth was a poor substitute.

Adamaï wasn't angry at his twin brother, it wasn't his fault after all. Yugo had always been there when the young dragon needed some cheering up. But he couldn't help himself from feeling jealous when he saw them spending that kind of quality time together. He left to wait in the corridor until they were done.

When Yugo straightened up, his face was suddenly grave.

"Is something wrong son?" Alibert asked.

"No I'm all right, don't worry. I just…I have something to tell you. Something important. And I don't want you to learn about it from someone else than me."

"Very well...I'm all ears."

Yugo found all the courage he needed in his father's eyes. There he could see that Alibert would hear anything, understand anything, and accept anything. His father would still love him no matter what. Yugo was convinced it would make his burden lighter, and most of all he didn't want to repeat the mistake he had made with Adamaï earlier. He took a deep breath before speaking, then he told him everything. How Qilby had betrayed them, how Phaeris had told him the terrifying truth in the middle of the chaos. When he was done, Alibert just nodded and stayed silent for a while. If he was shaken by the news of how his little boy turned out to be the King of his people, he didn't show it.

"And how do you feel about it?" he finally asked.

"Honestly? I'm scared to death. I don't think I'll be up to the task Dad. I could see it in their eyes, they're all expecting me to do great, but I don't even know where to start."

"I see. Well son, if there's one thing I know, it's that fear has never driven anyone forward, only backwards. I know you'll make a great King of the Eliatropes."

"How can you be so sure of that? Even I have no idea about what I'm supposed to do."

"Because you already have what's most important: courage, and compassion. The rest will come by itself. And it's not like your people are coming back tomorrow. You have years to prepare, so don't worry about it that much right now." He paused thoughtfully and added, "You'll need a proper education though, and apart from reading and writing there's only so much I could teach you."

Yugo chuckled. "What, you mean I have to go to school? No way."

"Well, you'll need a tutor at least. But that can wait for now, let's talk about it later. Right now I still have some work to do for our lunch and I could use your help."

"Of course Dad," Yugo said cheerfully, grinning from ear to ear. He felt like a weight had left his heart, but most of all he was relieved to see that his adoptive father still considered him as 'son' and not 'your Highness'. Because he definitely didn't feel like being 'your Highness,' the mere thought of that gave him shudders. He would do anything he could to continue living his old life for a bit longer, and preparing a meal with his dad felt so much like the good old times he missed.

* * *

_One less_, Lucien thought.

He stared absent-mindedly at the corpse of his latest target laying down on the pavement of a dark, narrow street, wiping his Shushu blade over the victim's clothes as usual. The Sram didn't have any pity or regrets, but it was not because that little Ecaflip banker deserved what had happened to him.

Lucien just didn't care any more.

It wasn't as though the man hadn't deserved it. He had hired hit men to hunt down his wife when he thought she had cheated on him, before using his wealth to corrupt the guards so they would turn a blind eye on his crime. Even at Bonta, the city of Justice, rich and powerful people would often escape their due punishment. That was Lucien's duty to correct those mistakes, with the same outcome for everyone: death.

After checking that everything was in order, the Sram hurried to disappear. He had no fear about being disturbed by some onlooker; he could get invisible at will after all. He just wanted to avoid another row with Farkas, in the unlikely case where the Sacrier would have not understood that it was better for him to step aside.

Lucien was ahead of schedule and had time for a break. Small streets quickly led him to bigger, more crowded avenues, then finally to the large harbour of Bonta. He found a bench where he could sit alone, except for the few seagulls that were fluttering around. He sighed heavily, his gaze lost into the blue immensity before him.

"What's up? My little Lulu's feeling down?" Akula taunted from under his sleeve. The Sram took off his gauntlet and put it on the bench right next to him so the Shushu could see what was going on.

"No, I'm just...tired. More and more I realise that it doesn't matter how much bastards we kill together, there's always more. It's endless."

"I'd rather say it's a good thing. Otherwise, what would we do? Killing is the only thing I like, and it's the only thing you know."

Lucien looked at his Shushu fondly. They had shared years of adventures, and countless murders. For that the Shushu Lady could consider herself lucky. Most of the Shushus ended up with a boring Iop that would prevent them from doing any harm. But Lucien had found her by accident, and since they were together she had never tried to escape or coerce her guardian into freeing her. She was having too much fun for that, even stuck inside her prison-object. As for the Sram, that gave him both a useful murdering tool and the only company he could tolerate.

"Of course you're right," Lucien continued. "It's just that we've been doing this for years, the Guild for centuries even, and there's hardly any change. It's like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. Too many crooks to eliminate, and they keep multiplying. Even here in Bonta, I feel it's actually worse. It's the same corruption we have in Brakmar, but here they do their best to hide it. If we want to achieve anything, maybe we should opt for more radical solutions."

The Shushu held her one eye wide open, visibly worried. "Eh…I'm not sure I like what I'm hearing. What do you mean exactly?"

"Instead of killing people one by one, what if we just burn everything? I mean, not literally but, governments, society, law, the whole system, just plain gone. Even if there's a bit of collateral damage, the outcome can't be worse than what we have right now. It will clean off the corruption, and we can always rebuild something better from the ashes."

"A _bit_ of collateral damage?"

"All right, maybe a lot. But maybe it would be worth it in the end. Maybe we need a fresh start."

There was an awkward silence before Akula sighed. "The other Shushus would agree with you. Just not with the 'restart' part but otherwise yeah."

"But you don't?"

"Of course not! My thing is to kill people, and if I want to keep doing it for a long time, we need to manage the resource, give it enough time to breed_._ Otherwise what's the point? Once everyone's dead there's nothing left to do, and only endless boredom left. My brothers are too retarded to understand that."

The Sram was thinking it over in silence for a while. A seagull landed on the bench next to them, screeching loudly.

"That's funny, I thought killing was your thing too," Akula finally pointed.

"I've never found it amusing. At the beginning I felt like I was being useful though. I thought that our targets had it coming after what they'd done. But now I feel it's mostly useless. There'll be always more and more bastards to kill, because it's in the human nature."

"And with your _solution_, you're not afraid to kill some good people in the process?"

"Are there any good people left? Honestly, I've yet to meet a single person who deserves to live enough to make up for the dozens of others who deserve to die. On average, people are terrible."

"Shushus are much worse," Akula observed.

"It's your goal to be evil. Humans are _supposed_ to be better than that."

After pecking at a few crumbs, the seagull advanced towards Akula. She cast the bird such a menacing stare that it flew away. "How would you do that anyway? I mean, burn everything," she asked.

"Well, the Guild has more than enough resources for that. Sleeper agents everywhere, inside every government. If we wanted to make them fight each other until there's nothing left, we could. All it takes to start a good war is a few key assassinations, and some made up intelligence to accuse people who didn't do anything."

"The Master would never agree with your ideas though."

Lucien shrugged. "Of course he won't. The Guild is supposed to keep the system going, not destroy it, and he is very loyal to our principles. That's just some…disillusioned ramblings I was having."

"Nope, you're not going to change the world today my Lulu," Akula concluded. "And most importantly, we're going to miss our rendezvous with the next target if we stay here any longer."

The Sram took a lung full of fresh ocean air before getting up, retrieving his Shushu.

"You're right. There's no point going on about that. The most efficient solution I have to my problems is still you."

"You're flattering me. Let's go kill another scum bag, it'll cheer you up!"

_If only_, Lucien thought.

* * *

A large dining room bathed in the blazing sunlight that poured in through the tall windows, surrounded by Sadida decorations of vines, leaves and flowers. A table trembled under the weight of a mountain of food, steak, rolls, cake, each plate more appetizing than the last. And most of all, all his friends were assembled, smiling and in good shape.

Yugo's main concern was to choose whom he would rush at and hug first. He settled for Tristepin, noticing that for the occasion the Ginger Knight had conceded to put on a shirt.

"Nice to see you buddy!" the Iop said cheerfully, hugging him back. "We were starting to believe you were dead."

"I can't believe Alibert raised such a big sloth," Ruel added while affectionately putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. Unlike Tristepin, the old man looked as shabby as ever.

"Always the kind word, huh?", Yugo said with a wink. Then he turned towards Evangelyne but he didn't move.

"What's wrong," she said. "I don't deserve a hug?"

"I wouldn't want to hurt you. How's your arm?"

"Perfectly healed. The Eniripsas here have done miracles. So are you going to hug me or not?"

"Of course," Yugo said, positively beaming. He moved to hold the young woman in his arms as she patted the top of his hat gently. She was the closest thing to a big sister he ever had.

"And how about you?" she asked.

"Feeling great! But I'm so hungry right now."

A horrible growling noise from his empty stomach confirmed that.

"I can fix that," Alibert pointed. "We're still waiting for Amalia though."

"Oh that's right," Yugo said, smiling mischievously. "I knew we were missing someone since nobody was complaining. I suppose she's already turned back into Princess Whi― Ouch!"

He was suddenly interrupted and yelped in pain as someone grabbed his ear from behind and pulled on it harshly.

"Princess what?" asked a voice he knew only too well.

"Princess Wonderful, I was going to say Princess Wonderful. Let me go now. Please?"

"Hmm. That will do. I shall disregard the royal outrage _this_ time," Amalia said with her best snobbish tone. She managed to keep her face straight as the boy rubbed his aching ear pitifully, casting her a dark glance.

"I'm very happy to see you too," he grumbled. "Hold on, we're also missing Grougal and Phaeris aren't we?"

Yugo immediately regretted asking when he saw the bothered look on everyone's face.

"What? Something happened to them?" he asked, immediately worried.

"Nothing bad, don't panic," Adamaï answered. "It's just that _some_ people in the court, well..."

"...need to learn that 'overgrown lizard' isn't something you should call a Dragon that's been around for millennia," Amalia concluded.

Yugo stared at her open-mouthed for a moment. "Wow...Your brother really said that to Phaeris, and _lived_?" He had dealt with Prince Armand before, and while he was never a fierce supporter of the Eliatrope cause, he always seemed to at least respect them.

"Of course Armand didn't say that to his face," Amalia corrected. "They argued for hours about some logistics issue that no one else really cared about. Armand lost patience, then he muttered something under his breath, and found out that Dragons have _really, _really good hearing." Amalia sighed. "I know he's just looking out for his own people, but he seriously needs to mellow out. Things are getting out of hand."

"After what happened with Qilby, I can't blame him for being wary," Adamaï admitted. "But still, Phaeris being Phaeris, he couldn't stand that, and he left with Grougal. They'll find a good place to stay at, away from civilization obviously, and then he's supposed to send us some kind of message so we can meet over there."

Yugo sighed sadly. "That's bad. He had a lot to tell us, I couldn't wait to hear his stories about our people."

"Well, it'll have to wait bro."

"While lunch cannot!" Alibert inserted cheerfully. "Come on, get seated before everything gets cold."

The others had barely reached their chair when Yugo almost jumped at the pile of food to help himself.

"Yugo, your manners," Alibert warned severely.

The boy sat back, blushing when he realised his father had corrected him in front of everyone. "Sorry Dad...I'm just too hungry."

"It shouldn't prevent you from acting civilized, and―"

"It's okay Alibert," Evangelyne interrupted. "We didn't get to meet that much civilized people lately, that's why. It feels like years since I've sat at such a decent table."

Yugo stared wide-eyed at the person who had dared contradict the holy parental authority. But Eva had spoken gently enough that Alibert didn't answer and just smiled back at her instead. As a result, the boy was utterly bewildered.

The lunch went on in a cheerful atmosphere. Most of discussion was occupied by Tristepin and Ruel, the first recounting his actual feats at the Crimson Claws, the latter inventing his own on the fly. But they had travelled with the old Enutrof for too long to believe anything he said, and Evangelyne and Amalia gave him dirty looks the whole time.

"And then with Rubi, we took on Rushu with the greatest surprise attack ever!" shouted Tristepin, flailing his arms wildly and sending food from his full mouth everywhere.

"Oh that you did," his Shushu sword Rubilax sneered. "Just to be sure, that's the moment when you shouted at him so he knew perfectly well we were there?"

"Exactly! He never expected that, so he was surprised!"

"I see," Ruel jeered. "Sir Tristepin is such a fine strategist."

"This is Iop philology, you can't understand."

Even though Yugo laughed heartily at their antics, he didn't take part in the conversation and kept to himself, minding his own plate. If he joined in, his friends would ask him questions he couldn't answer. Next to him, Evangelyne finally noticed his unusual attitude and put her hand on his arm to get his attention.

"What's up Yugo?" she whispered. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine," he replied.

"Of course. That's why you're pretending to be invisible?" Yugo grinned back at her sheepishly, and Evangelyne laughed. "It's okay. You don't have to talk about what happened back there if you don't want to."

The boy was surprised that Evangelyne would understand the problem so easily. But then, how many months had they spent adventuring together? Evangelyne had always been the responsible member of the team, the voice of caution in a world of danger and excitement. Even after the danger had passed, it made sense that she would still be looking out for him. The only sign that gave him away was his attitude, more introverted than usual, but then she had acted the same way after Tristepin died.

"Okay, here's what we can do," she whispered. "If someone tries to bother you, I'll send them my Meaningful Stare of Death to tell them to back off. I'll be your bodyguard for once. How does that sound?"

Yugo chuckled. He had already found himself on the receiving end of Eva's Meaningful Stare of Death. It was serious business. Serious enough to make him feel safe. "Sounds great. But now you're my bodyguard, does that mean I can be as annoying as Amalia?"

"Don't even think about it, little brat", Evangelyne retorted with a smirk.

Yugo made an effort to loosen himself up, and he was relieved to see that didn't attract him any more attention. Either he was lucky, or Evangelyne's aura of seriousness was enough to protect him. Even if he did talk to them, his companions still behaved like he never left them to wage his own personal war in another dimension against the traitor of his people.

But as he stopped focusing solely on his plate, the boy also noticed that Adamaï didn't look very cheerful either. The dragon kept his gaze unfocused, eating in silence, and Yugo suddenly worried that his brother was delving in his darkest memories of the previous days.

"You're okay bro?" he asked cautiously.

"I'll be better when this whole business is settled."

Taken aback, Yugo raised an eyebrow. "What business? What are you talking about?"

"Well, the council, the questioning, all that boring stuff we're in for."

"Oh! Yes, that."

Adamaï stared at his brother curiously. "What were _you_ talking about?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

Facing the puzzled look of the dragon, Yugo ignored him and pretended to be suddenly interested in Pinpin's heroic exploits. If Adamaï had already moved on, then there was no need to dig anything up.

"I was ready to massacre Rushu all by myself, one on one," Tristepin told excitedly. "But at the last moment, my Master did something crazy!"

Amalia yawned. "He charged right at him?"

"He charged right at...hey, how did you guess?"

"Iops..." she muttered, with a face palm for good measure.

"Anyway, it was so heroic! And then he grabbed Rushu and took him right inside that Zaap stuff so he could finish him off, in that scum's own world...dimension...thingy, whatever, because otherwise there's just no challenge at all. Master Goultard is so strong, he's going to show him what Iops have in their heads!"

Tristepin raised his fist in the air one last time, then suddenly fell silent, the excitement on his face quickly dying off.

"And...after that?" Yugo offered.

"After that, I have no idea," the Iop concluded, sighing sadly. "He hasn't made it back yet."

"Don't worry," Evangelyne replied kindly, trying to comfort him. "He's a god right? I'm sure he'll manage to―"

She was interrupted as the doors abruptly opened on Prince Armand.

"I'm dearly sorry to interrupt," Prince Armand said, bowing stiffly. "But the Council is assembled, and we would like to commence as soon as possible. Adamaï, Yugo, if you would please come this way."

Even though he tried to be polite, his tone made it clear that they didn't have much of a choice anyway.

"But we haven't even finished the dessert!" Adamaï cried.

"Adamaï, please. We're coming," Yugo cut as he got up quickly. He patted his belly, satisfied to see that it was filled enough. Az landed back into his front pocket, and his brother followed reluctantly, grumbling under his breath as Yugo apologized to his friends for leaving them so abruptly.

"You're sure you'll be all right?" Evangelyne asked.

"Yeah, there's nothing to worry about. Are you coming too, Amalia?"

The Princess cast a dark glance at Armand. "No, I'm not invited. Apparently _some _people seem to think I'm too close to you to be impartial. That it would be a conflict of interest or something."

Yugo looked up at the prince, who only answered him with a flat gaze.

"Oh…well, okay. Catch you all later then?"

"Of course. Good luck!" Evangelyne said with a warm smile. The archer knew Prince Armand very well and commiserated with the twins who were going to spend a few hours in his charming company. He was a good person inside, but his permanent concern over the security of the Sadida Kingdom left him rash and stubborn.

* * *

Armand guided them through the palace corridors, walking a few feet ahead of the two brothers. Az was fluttering around while Adamaï whispered furiously, hissing like an enraged snake.

"Who does he think he _is,_ bossing us around like that?"

Yugo shrugged, trying to deflect the aggressivity of his brother. "I don't know, maybe the Prince of the Sadida Kingdom? Come on, you're the one who told me it was not going to be easy. Then there's no point to make it even worse right?"

"But they _owe_ us more respect than that!" the little dragon raged. "We saved their hide, _twice_, and still they treat us like their _servants_. They never trusted you with the Dofus and the Eliacube, and they're doing the same thing _again!_ Really you should put an end to that nonsense, you just need to tell them you're the K―"

"Yeah yeah, I got that all right," Yugo cut in quickly. "It's not the solution. For now we have to cooperate. How come you're so worked up about it bro?"

Adamaï shrugged. "Cooperate, sure, I can cooperate just fine. But I'll grovel before them when Tofus grow teeth."

"That's not what I'm saying," Yugo whispered. He sighed, tired by his brother's constant negativity. "When you attended that diplomatic council thing, Amalia's father was pretty much the only person openly supporting the return of our people right?"

"Right."

"Then it needs to stay that way. That's important if we want our people to return somehow. Without any help it won't be possible. Only the Sadida are willing to give us some land to settle on, and they will make sure we don't starve before we get independent. So if you don't do it for them, please do it for me. For our people."

At that moment Yugo realised he was behaving like the King he was supposed to be more easily than he had expected. But what he had said gave Adamaï a bothered look he didn't expect.

"What's up now?", Yugo asked curtly, slightly irritated.

"Well...let's say that Phaeris may have a different advice on the matter."

"What do you mean?"

The dragon paused, obviously trying to pick his words carefully. "He's not gone to find some cosy cavern just for him and Grougal. He's trying to find the right place to settle our people. He's looking for a deserted island somewhere, big enough to offer space and food for all of us. And most of all, far away from everything and everyone else."

Yugo stopped on the spot, mouth open, too surprised to say anything. Adamaï looked at him with concern, and Armand looked at both of them curiously.

"Is there something wrong?" the Prince asked. "Maybe I shall give you a moment to discuss those pressing matters of yours in private?"

"No―" Adamaï started.

"Yes," Yugo cut in. "Please."

"Very well. I shall be awaiting for you at the next corner, so you don't get lost. But by all means, please try to be quick. The Council is already waiting."

"We won't be long."

Armand nodded respectfully before disappearing. Yugo glared silently at his brother while surprise, confusion, and anger battled in his mind. He barely noticed Az passing between them, looking cautiously from one to the other.

"Look, I knew you wouldn't take it well," Adamaï stammered. "I tried to tell Phaeris to at least wait until he could discuss it with you before doing anything. But it didn't work out with the court here, especially with Armand, so he just disregarded what I said and he left."

"But why?" Yugo protested. "He's supposed to be the wisest of us all. How come he already turned down the _only support we have!"_

"Well, maybe because he _is_ the wisest of us all. He's convinced the humans are egoistical, corrupted, only concerned by power and wealth, so why even try dealing with them? We're just wasting our time staying here. They will fear us and consider us as enemies, no matter what we say, no matter how much times we save the world."

"The Sadida aren't like that."

"The Sadida are isolated. Even their Cra allies would like to see us gone. When it creates tension between their allies, you can be sure the Sadida will dump us the first chance they get. That's why Phaeris doesn't want to take any chances, not when the survival of our people is at stake."

"And you agree with him?"

Adamaï stared at his brother with a pained look on his face, but he said nothing. Yugo understood the reason immediately. Either Adamaï could be honest, and it would hurt him, or he could lie, and it would hurt him too. There was no point to say anything in that case.

"So," Yugo continued, trying his best to keep his voice steady. "Why are you still here then? Why didn't you just leave with Phaeris if you're convinced it's so pointless to stay?"

It was Adamaï's turn to get hurt, and Yugo immediately regretted his words when he felt his brother's bitter disappointment overflow through their mind link. The boy realised Adamaï had likely felt how bothered he was from the beginning. Exchanging blows like that was useless. They were so emotionally connected that hurting their brother actually meant hurting themselves anyway.

But Yugo couldn't take back his words, even if he dearly wanted to.

"I stayed for you," Adamaï finally said. "I thought you would have figured that out by yourself."

"I know," Yugo said softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

Yugo expected his brother to make quite a fuss about it, and become angry at him for a while. He was relieved when Adamaï just nodded and smiled weakly at him.

"I know you didn't. It's all right," the dragon said. "It's so pointless to get mad at each other, you know? We only make ourselves feel terrible. Don't worry. I understand you only said that because you were angry about us deciding without you. But I'm kinda caught in the middle there, you have to understand that too."

"Yes, I do," Yugo answered, putting both his hands on his brother's shoulders. "We have to try though, Adamaï. We have to give it our best shot. Maybe we'll fail and they'll see us as dangerous off-world strangers, but I won't forgive myself if we don't even try. Even if it's not wise and I'm probably stupid to think there's any hope, I don't want to give up just like that. Are you with me?"

The dragon shook his head in amused disbelief. "That's funny, Phaeris predicted you would react exactly like that. Apparently in our previous life, you were already that stubborn."

"You didn't answer. Are you with me?"

Adamaï looked at his brother straight in the eyes, and Yugo knew the answer before he said anything. "I'm with you. I'd follow you to the end of the world, just because you always manage to put yourself in the most dangerous situations and that's where all the fun is. I'd follow you through _fire and flames_ if we needed to go there, because no matter how many stupid things you manage to say, you're still my damn _brother_."

Yugo smiled warmly. "Thanks. That means a lot."

"And also 'cause I'm immune to fire and flames."

"Oh. Well, I guess that'll have to do."

They smiled sheepishly at each other for a moment, and Yugo realised how dearly he had missed his brother over the past months they had spent separated. Even though Adamaï had his own little angry character and could get extremely annoying at times, the young Eliatrope knew there was no one in the world he could rely on more than his dragon of a brother.

"Well, before we skip to the fun part, there's still that council business to deal with," Yugo said, sighing. "Armand is waiting for us."

As the twins ran in the direction the Prince had went to, closely followed by Az, Adamaï started grumbling again. "I'd take any nasty monster available over that, any time."

"Don't say that, it's not our trial we're headed to. They'll ask questions, we'll answer kindly, and we'll try to make a good impression. Easy enough, isn't it?"

"I'll go ahead and mark those words so I can rub your face into them later."

"Also, if you want to make a good impression of yourself, shutting up is likely the best thing you can do."

Before he even completed that sentence, Yugo's hand was already glowing in a bright blue light from the escape portal he was about to create.

Prince Armand was waiting patiently a few corridors ahead. Even though he wasn't often surprised by anything, he had to raise an eyebrow when instead of the two people he was waiting for, he saw a streak of white chasing a streak of blue, both coming towards him at alarming speeds. The Sadida kept as still as a tree as they quickly merged and crashed loudly to the ground, skidding until they stopped right at his feet.

"Is everything all right?" he asked politely, looking down at the two brothers still wrestling on the floor. "When I left you I imagined you would have a pleasant brother talk, not a brawl."

"Yeah, no big deal," Yugo answered, his voice rasping as Adamaï held to his neck, pressing his arm against the boy's throat. "This is actually the way we―Ouch!" He yelped when a sharp elbow struck him in the ribs, producing a nasty cracking noise. In immediate response there was a bright flash of blue light, a thundering sound, and Adamaï was abruptly sent flying against the wall.

"Okay, stop now," Yugo commanded as he raised his hand. "We'll finish that later." The young Eliatrope wiped the dust off his clothes as Az caught up with them. Then he looked up at Armand, who was still looking slightly puzzled. "We're ready."

"Good. Please, follow me then."

The little group quickly arrived in front of a large double door flanked by several Sadida guards. It opened, and Armand invited the two brothers to step inside.

"Yeah, right," Adamaï sneered, looking inside. "'Not a trial.' They have a judge and jury, and an executioner in the next room for all we know, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

The usual Sadida decoration made of vines, leaves and spectacular flowers did little to hide the true purpose of the large room indeed. A round tribune circled the whole space, with two little chairs in the middle that were obviously intended for them. The two dozen people who sat there turned their gaze to the twins as one, and among them Yugo could recognize only a very few faces; King Sheran Sharm, Chamberlain Thicktuft, Master Joris, and surprisingly the Cra Matriarch Beranziah were there. The young Eliatrope had only met her quickly when they prepared the battle against Nox, and he had no idea why she and a few other Cra were present, but it surely meant that the situation was more serious than he thought.

It was obviously not going to be the cakewalk he had hoped for.

* * *

A/N

_I'd like to thank everybody for the nice support, reviews, pms, etc. It's a great motivation to move forward. Keep telling me what you think of it! It's the only way I'm ever going to know._

_In the meantime Slavok added a new chapter to his own story, Worthy of the Crown. If you didn't check it out already, you should definitely do so, it does a great job of filling that void after the second season with a whole new adventure that's well written, well planned, original and very respectful of those characters we like._

_Ankama announced some very nice plans for the future of the Brotherhood of the Tofu, namely a trilogy of forty-five minutes OVAs somewhere into the next year. No sidetracks, only the main plot, so that's definitely something to look for._

_What came first, the Dofus, or the Dragon?_


	3. The council

At that moment, Yugo thought that all the battles he had fought so far had been easier, quicker, and less painful than this one.

The young Eliatrope had been sitting on an uncomfortable chair for hours, enduring a constant barrage of questions. It was difficult for him to tell a full sentence of his story without being interrupted by someone asking for more seemingly useless details. Fortunately, Adamaï was doing his best to keep his temper under control, just like he had promised. Having to bear with his constant feeling of anger flowing over their mind link would have been just too much for Yugo. He already had enough trouble dealing with that dull headache of his own.

And on top of that, there was Armand, pacing around them. Surely he wasn't being unnerving on purpose, but Yugo wished he would just sit down instead.

Each time Yugo looked around at the people facing them, he saw mostly closed faces and gazes full of distrust and contempt. Only the Sadida King Sheran Sharm looked a bit more encouraging, but Yugo didn't want to stare only at him, in a futile effort to be polite to the others. Also Chamberlain Thicktuft and Master Joris didn't look hostile either, but to be fair it was impossible to see their faces.

When it was Adamaï's turn to tell about the events at the Zinit, it gave Yugo a little break. He used the occasion to check if Az was all right. The little Tofu was resting in his front pocket as usual. When Yugo gently petted the soft feathers ball, Az glanced up at him with such a miserable look that it almost made the boy laugh out loud.

"It's useless to look at me like that," he whispered. "I can't help it. Don't worry, we're almost done."

'Almost' was a relative term. The council wanted a staggering amount of details about the Zinit, interrupting Adamaï's storytelling all the time. And while the dragon was trying his best to keep a neutral tone, the air he was breathing out was getting more blurred every second, a sure sign he was slowly losing his temper.

Yugo drew a longing look outside the windows to the forest outside, seeing that the afternoon was well advanced and the sun already sinking towards the horizon. He hated being stuck indoors on such a sunny day, and he could only hope they would be freed quickly.

After Adamaï had recounted his own fight against Qilby, one of the Cra officials started asking questions for the first time. He was slightly aged, wore a fancy uniform that didn't seem meant for the battlefield, and didn't look friendly at all. "You say you managed to transform into the most powerful creature you ever became. Was it the first time you did something of the like?"

"No," Adamaï answered flatly. "The first time was when Nox froze the time and tried to kill my brother. But it was a much lesser form back then."

"What was it like this time? Was it your adult dragon form?"

"It was a giant crackler. A stone golem if you prefer."

"And you say you don't know how you did that. But it happened just as Qilby knocked out Grougaloragran, didn't it? Don't you think that this great power naturally came to you when you saw one of your kin suffering before your eyes?"

Yugo stared open-mouthed at the man who dared ask such an inconsiderate question in such a blunt way. He could feel Adamaï's anger flare. The dragon breathed out black smoke by his nostrils.

"It's very likely," he spat through gritted teeth.

"Do you think you could do it again under the same circumstances?"

"Master Galdir!", King Sheran Sharm interrupted. "This question is irrelevant, and well outside the boundaries of what I would deem acceptable for this council. You should show a bit more consideration for our _guests_."

The Cra glared at him, and leaned back on his seat. "Quite the opposite, your Majesty. This question is perfectly relevant as we'll have to decide what to do with them after this audience is over. It might be an issue if this white creature here can turn into a deadly, rampaging beast when it believes itself or its relatives are being threatened."

"Just you try," Adamaï growled menacingly. "Just you try to touch an hair of Yugo and 'it' is going to annihilate everyone in the room. And believe me, I won't have to change into anything more scary just to deal with petty little humans like you."

The Sadida guards were already fingering their weapons. The tension in the air was dense enough that one could cut through it with a knife.

"Enough!" the King shouted. "This is not the time and place to display such behaviour. I would like everyone to keep his temper under control. And I would also like to remind the council that we have in front of us two _children_ who have recently met daunting challenges. This is not a decent way to treat them."

"As you see fit, your _Majesty_", Galdir said wryly. The Cra flashed a snide little smirk at them, and Yugo realised he had got exactly what he wanted: to make Adamaï appear like a dangerous monster to the rest of the council, with a power much larger than his ability to keep it under control.

"Please carry on, Master Adamaï," the King invited.

"I was done anyway," the dragon retorted curtly.

"You told something very interesting earlier about being possessed by a Shushu named Anathar," Prince Armand noted as he stood right next to the twins.

"I did," Adamaï answered flatly, looking up at him. "But I wasn't conscious when it happened. I have no memory of that. Only Yugo can tell what was going on at that moment."

Even though it was a lie, Yugo couldn't blame his brother if he didn't want to discuss it. Especially when the Eliatrope considered the harsh questions that kept coming their way. If the risk was to see Adamaï lose control, it was really not worth it.

So Yugo took over the storytelling where he left it, as the Brotherhood of the Tofu approached the Crimson Claws. Strangely enough the council didn't interrupt him as much this time, maybe in fear of Adamaï's reaction if they did. As a result Yugo quickly managed to cover their encounter with the New Sufokian navy, his own fight against Qilby, and his visit of Emrub.

When he reached the end and fell silent, the members of the council exchanged incredulous looks and undistinguishable mutterings, and Yugo felt his heart sink as he realised Adamaï had been right from the start.

_They don't believe a word of what I said_, he realised. Not because his story was difficult to comprehend, but because they had decided so before he even got started.

"I'd just wish to make perfectly sure we understand what you are telling us here," the Cra Matriarch began. "You went into an extra-dimensional sanctuary that no one ever saw, there you met a dragon that no one knows about, and you hid the most powerful artefact of your people in there, to keep it safe until your people returns. Is that correct?"

"Yes, it is," Yugo answered. He tried his best to keep his head high, his gaze steady and his voice clear.

"Do you have any proof of that?" another Cra woman continued. She wore a high-ranking military uniform even though she looked rather young. "Do you have any material element to present before us, anything besides your word that would prove the Eliacube is there, out of your reach, and you're not keeping it hidden somewhere in our world so you can use it later?"

"No, I don't."

"How _fortunate_," sneered the Cra named Galdir. Taking verbal fire from all directions at once was quickly becoming disorientating for Yugo. They hardly left him any time to think his answers through. "Please forgive my bluntness, Master Eliatrope, but you really thought you could just come here before us, recite your tofu and gobball stories, and expect us to believe them?"

"I didn't, but―"

"That was a rhetorical question," the Cra snapped.

Yugo tried to stay calm, which was increasingly difficult as he felt Adamaï positively boiling right beside him. He met Galdir's gaze, and he could see a lot of hatred there, that he had trouble to understand. What in the world had he done to justify such a strong aversion?

Yugo stood up from his chair, frowned, and cast a cold glance at everyone in front of him before continuing. "I didn't expect you to believe anything I said," he admitted calmly. "Adamaï told me you wouldn't, but I was naive enough to try anyway. I don't have anything better to give you than my word. I thought the truth would be enough."

"The truth would have been sufficient," the Cra Matriarch retorted. "But without anything to back it up, you're being very presumptuous to call it the truth."

Yugo had nothing to answer to that, but Adamaï did, on an much more heated tone. "Yugo didn't hesitate to put his own life on the line to save us all! All he asks in return is that you just listen to him! When he was busy saving the world, of course he didn't take the time to get you a little souvenir."

"The world that was threatened by your people to begin with," a Sadida official chimed in. "And by the Eliatrope artefact which was kept safe by my men, until you stole it." King Sheran Sharm cast him a dark glance but the man didn't even blink.

"It wasn't our fault," Yugo answered. "We didn't know we would free Qilby when we used the Eliacube, and even if we did, no one ever suspected he was a traitor."

"That's exactly my point. Even though you two were only a tool for him, your King tried to destroy us all. How can you still pretend to be a peaceful people with friendly motives after such a thing?"

"Qilby wasn't..."

Yugo hesitated. He couldn't bring himself to say the word. He felt Adamaï just behind him, thinking _'Say it! Say it!'_ as hard as he could, so hard Yugo could almost hear him in his own head.

"...sane. He was blessed with infinite memory, but in the end it became his curse. He couldn't forget anything and it drove him mad."

"He tried to destroy the world with a plan that clearly required intelligence and cunning to conceive. Which would indicate that he was _not_ mad, but rather that he considered we didn't deserve to live. Surely we weren't interesting enough for his superior mind?"

_So that's why_,Yugo thought. Qilby had damaged their reputation beyond repair, and that was the reason for the hatred that filled the room. The boy didn't even try to tell them that he loved this world and would do anything to defend it. What was the point anyway? The whole discussion felt like he was repeatedly hitting a stone wall, achieving nothing apart from hurting himself.

But the Sadida official pressed on, maybe interpreting Yugo's silence as a sign of weakness. "And even better, every last one of you is powerful enough to do the same. As far as _we_ know, the Eliacube is still on the loose. Seeing how the return of your people is still an open matter, how reassuring is that?"

"General Torrac, that's enough," the King interrupted firmly. Yugo cast him a grateful look for his timely intervention. "The point of the council was to hear about the recent events, and we already heard everything there was to say. Who's to blame is not the subject today, and the return of the Eliatropes is another matter altogether. On that the Sadida Kingdom has already stated its position, and I didn't change my mind. So unless someone has something relevant to add, I suggest it's time to bring this council to a close."

His proposition was met with silence, only a few glances were exchanged.

"Right," the King concluded as he rose from his chair. "The council is dismissed."

The twins looked at each other, letting out a deep sigh of relief at the same time. Everyone got up and started to move out, but as the two brothers were doing the same, the King called from across the room.

"Yugo? If you're not in a hurry, I would like to have a word with you."

"Yes, of course your Majesty."

Yugo sat back on his chair, and Adamaï didn't move. The King smiled kindly at the dragon. "In private, Master Adamaï, if you please."

"What you can say to Yugo, you can say to me," he answered flatly.

"I'm aware of that, but this is a particular matter I wish to discuss with Yugo alone."

Before Adamaï could argue, his brother turned towards him. "I'll be fine Ad', don't worry. I'll catch you later."

Adamaï cast his brother a dark glance that clearly meant '_I don't like when you're being more important than me_', but he didn't insist. Without a word, he just turned his back on them and left. As Yugo and the King were the only people left inside, the room suddenly felt much too large. Yugo quickly checked how Az was doing, only to find out that the little Tofu was napping inside his front pocket. The King stroked his long green beard for a while before speaking.

"First I would like to apologize," he started.

"Apologize?", Yugo repeated incredulously. "But...for what?"

"For allowing this to happen. I knew a lot of these people were afraid. Afraid of change, afraid of power that's not theirs, afraid of everything they can't comprehend. And when it comes to the Eliatropes, there is a lot to be afraid of. I thought that would be the occasion to make them know more about you and see that you're driven by pure motives, so they would have a better opinion of you and a better understanding of your people. But it didn't work out the way I expected, as you could see..."

Yugo nodded. "I'm sorry for that."

The king shook his head and had a little, weary laugh. "It's none of your fault Yugo. You tried your best. Your brother also did very well. Based on his last experience with politics I half expected him to set Galdir on fire at some point."

"I bet he wanted to do it," Yugo answered, grinning broadly. After hours of bearing with hostile stares, having a friendly conversation was a welcome change. "But then...may I ask you something?"

"You're very welcome to do so."

"Why aren't you...like them? I mean, why are you still supporting the return of my people when everyone else doesn't?" _Why aren't you afraid of us?_

"You mean it would be easier for me to follow the advice of my counsellors and abandon you to your fate? And you don't understand why I'm not doing that instead?"

"Well...kind of, yes. I mean, sorry, I don't want to disrespect you, but..."

"No offence taken Yugo. And you're right. That would be the easy way, but also the lazy one. What kind of a King am I if I'm not ready to do what's necessary, if I'd rather wallow in the comfort of never deciding against the will of my council, taking only the decisions that will please them instead?"

The King paused. Yugo stared intently at him, waiting for him to go on.

"But that's not the answer you asked for. I'm supporting your cause because I have faith. I know the return of your people will be the beginning of a new golden age for our world. It's not important if I'm being disputed in my own time by my own counsellors and allies because of my positions. I know our descendants will thank us for doing the right thing when we could, even though that means I'll have to cope with my fair share of angry talks to finally make it happen ― and what you saw here was only a foretaste."

Yugo nodded. "Hmm. You don't share that view with Prince Armand though, do you?" The boy feared once again that he had been offensive, but all he got in return was a warm smile.

"Armand is young, and he acts with the matching enthusiasm, sometimes impulsively even," the King answered. "He still has a lot to learn, and at the moment he's more concerned about the well-being of our people than anything else. He has little time to devote to some grand visions of the future, where your people actually fit, but that will change. I can assure you that he has no resentment against you, even after the recent events. Just like you, he's trying his best to do what he feels is right."

Yugo nodded silently. He could see how different people trying to achieve good deeds at the same time could have conflicting interests as a result. That was a lot more complicated than the bedtime stories he was used to. "Is it always that hard to do the right thing?" he asked softly.

The King chuckled. "Most of the time, it is. That's exactly why noble deeds deserve credit, because they are usually the hardest way. Your adventures are likely much funnier to live through than politics, but in the end we both know from first-hand experiences that making the right choices takes a lot of conviction and dedication."

"Politics are less dangerous though", Yugo pointed out with a mischievous grin. "You're not risking your life every day."

"You have no idea how wrong you are", the King retorted with a wry smile. "Anyway, this is not the only topic I wanted to discuss. Given the hostile atmosphere you had to endure all this afternoon, I would perfectly understand if you withheld some important information from the council. I won't hold anything against you if this is the case, you have my word. But if there's something you would rather tell me privately, _anything..._ now is the right moment."

Yugo stared at the King, opened his mouth, then closed it, unable to utter a word. He didn't expect that. It felt like the King was exactly talking about what the boy thought he was talking about. But it was impossible. There was no way he could have known.

But there was also no way Yugo could look at him right into the eyes, lie, and get away with it. Not just after the King had reaffirmed his support of the Eliatrope people, the only support they could rely on.

"I...I don't..." the boy stammered. He gulped. He had no idea what to say. At that moment throwing a portal through the windows and disappearing forever looked like a very good idea. Or couldn't he just tell the truth? No, _no_. Too quick, too soon. He wasn't ready yet. The boy felt his cheeks grow hot, as the King stared at him, awaiting, his expression impossible to decipher.

Then it struck him.

"Yes! There's something," Yugo blurted out. "I had a dream last night…or, a vision or something. It was not like any other dream. There was a little girl, she was dressed like an Eliatrope, and she showed me..." Yugo shuddered when he thought back about the vision of the Sadida Kingdom turned into ashes. "She showed me the Tree of Life burnt, and the whole Kingdom destroyed."

The King raised an eyebrow. "Did she tell you how it happened?"

"Yes. She told me there would be a war between the nations of the World of Twelve, and I had to stop it, and the meantime I had to warn you not to fall into any tricks that could lead you into that conflict."

"And did she tell you when?"

"No, only that it would come very soon. Much sooner than we could expect."

King Sheran Sharm stroked his green beard thoughtfully, staying silent for a long while. "I see," he said finally. "Well, I can assure you that there's no war in preparation anywhere, and you can rest easy."

Yugo was startled by his abrupt answer. For someone who claimed to have faith, he sure brushed aside the warning quickly.

"But―"

"I'm sorry, let me just explain it to you at length. Every nation, every Kingdom has a network of spies that keep an eye for anything unusual. They are well trained professionals, extremely reliable. And the unspoken agreement is that we don't hunt them. I know for sure about a few of them in the palace here, but if you want to maintain the peace it's better to have everyone know about everyone else's little secret plans."

"Yes, but―"

"The suspicion of hostile intents can have much more dire consequences than letting everyone know about your exact number of troops and their equipment. In any case, it has worked perfectly well so far. And I can tell you, preparing a war takes such an amount of effort and resources that it can't go unnoticed. It never did."

"I understand, but―"

"So in my position Yugo," the King continued. "Who would _you_ choose to believe? A very well-tried and very expensive network of spies who reported to me no later than yesterday that there was nothing to worry about for the next few months at least? Or a child who's telling me about a nightmare he had?"

Yugo cast him an offended look. "I told you, it was not like any other dream", the boy insisted. "It felt really more...more real. More like a vision. I can't describe it any better than that, but I've had nightmares already, and it doesn't compare."

"Sorry, I didn't intend to offend you," the King continued with a much kinder demeanour. "You've been through quite a lot lately, and with everything you had to withstand, it wouldn't be a surprise if you were subjected to some kind of emotional trauma as a result."

Yugo almost jumped from his seat in surprise. "What? You think I'm _crazy, _really?"

"By Sadida, absolutely not," Sheran Sharm answered gently. "I've never said anything like that, nor do I think it. But please try to see the matter from a more objective point of view. A child has nothing to do on a battlefield, and you've already been there twice. It's only normal to be shaken after that experience. Even though you may think you survived it and it's all that matters, it might have left some invisible scars on your mind, which is where that nightmare could come from. I'm not a specialist, but I've seen soldiers come back from war with the same kind of problems you're dealing with. And having vivid nightmares of imaginary wars just after you experienced war yourself seems only logical to me."

Yugo stared silently at the broad man in front of him. He didn't want to believe a word of it, but...what if the King was right? If it was Yugo's own mind playing a trick on him, how would he know?

"Anyway, I can assure you adamantly that there's no immediate threat on the Sadida Kingdom, absolutely nothing out there you should be afraid of. You can reside here to recover for as long as you wish. And if you need any help, we have an Eniripsa healer named Egnos who specializes in that kind of problems. You can go see him on my behalf, I know he makes very efficient potions of dreamless sleep if you need that to rest properly."

"I..." Yugo began. His shoulders slumped. What else could he say?

"Now please promise me you'll look after yourself Yugo, and do as I suggested if your nightmares come back."

The boy nodded. "I will," he mumbled.

"Good," the King concluded. He smiled encouragingly. "Now go back to your friends, make some good fun of how we are all a bunch of grumpy old politicians, and how your brother almost set one of us on fire. You deserved that much."

Yugo smiled back, but he didn't mean it. As he got up and walked to the door, he thought he surely hadn't expected the discussion to turn that way, but nonetheless he was pleased that it was over, like that whole council business he would have happily avoided if he had known what they were in for.

* * *

Later that night, Evangelyne was staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, imagining that the moving shadows cast by the moonlight through the tree leaves were living creatures. But it didn't help. She was lying in her bed, unable to find sleep. The light snoring from Tristepin right beside her was not the reason of her insomnia, but rather all the concerns that kept swirling in her mind.

She didn't regret any choices they had made together, even the most important one, and even though it was barely a choice. They were young, they were in love, it just happened. Evangelyne wasn't even concerned about that. She had spent most of her life looking after Amalia, so how different could it be to take care of her own child? It made her smile to think that after what she had endured with Amalia, having a child who was just half as annoying as the princess would already be really unfair.

The real problem was how Tristepin would handle it. Not that he wouldn't be a good father, but he had always proven to be restless. He had offered that they took a few months long break from adventuring, likely ignoring that they needed a lot more time than that if they wanted to raise their child properly. And even just a few months were already a great deal for the Ginger Knight. After a few days of doing nothing violent he would grow twitchy, unable to contain the urge to go fight the monster of the day. If the need for a good brawl had to battle against his love for her, Evangelyne was unsure which would win.

Then there was Amalia. She, too, would grow bored after merely a few weeks of being a princess again. Of course she loved the way everybody looked up at her, revering and admiring her, but if it had grown old in the past, it would grow old in the future. If Amalia suddenly left again to see the world, Evangelyne would be unable to follow, and it could end badly.

Evangelyne sighed and turned to her side, looking out of the window into the clear, starry night sky. Tristepin sleepily mumbled something about having an unfair share of Shushus to beat up, then started snoring again.

Ruel wasn't much of an issue. Right, he always managed to put himself into life-threatening situations because of his insatiable greed. But since it was always his own fault and Eva didn't care that much about the old skinflint, he wasn't the reason why she couldn't find sleep.

Yugo wasn't much of an issue either. Evangelyne did care about him, she cared about him a _lot_, but even though he could be reckless sometimes, he was largely able to look after himself on his own. He had powerful magical abilities alongside a lot of common sense. And on top of that, he had Adamaï to protect him, a Dragon no less. Granted, Yugo hadn't exactly been himself in the previous few days, but if his attitude after the defeat of Nox was of any indication, his usual cheerful self would be back quickly.

That said something when the youngest member of their group was also the less likely to find a stupid way to get killed if he was left unattended.

Now that Qilby was back in his dimensional prison and the Shushus kicked out from the world, it didn't seem there was any danger looming at the horizon, and they could rest easy. But what if something happened and the Brotherhood had to leave for another adventure? Evangelyne would have no choice but to stay behind, which meant Amalia would be left unsupervised, and Tristepin would have to decide between abandoning his beloved Cra for months, or brooding day in and day out for missing all the fun.

There was no easy answer to these problems.

All in all, it didn't seem like Evangelyne was going to find her calm centre and sleep any time soon. She gently kissed her own Iop Knight on the cheek, then got out of bed, put on her clothes and exited the bedroom silently. Which was very easy for a Cra.

She headed towards the palace's gardens, the place where she always ended up when she wanted to clear her mind. It was calm and often empty, especially in the middle of night. As she made her way through the deserted palace's corridors, she thought back about what had happened earlier in those same gardens. The twin brothers had ended up there, meeting with the rest of the Brotherhood after their audience. Adamaï had been positively shaking with anger as he recounted how it went, having no word hard enough to qualify those 'petty little humans' they had met, while Yugo keenly accepted Amalia's offer to rest his head on her lap while she massaged his back, trying to have him relax a bit.

Evangelyne always found it cute to see Amalia and Yugo spending time together this way. They obviously considered each other as very good friends and they were still too young to think otherwise. But as the years passed, the Cra fully expected them to realise there was more than just friendship to the way they cared about each other.

The young archer arrived to the gardens, and as usual she was enthralled by the feeling of peace that always emanated from the place. Along with the moonlight, a few species of luminescent plants and insects illuminated the lush vegetation made of exotic and colourful trees. The only sounds came from the rustling of the tree leaves blown by a gentle breeze, and the soft screeching of nocturnal insects.

Evangelyne paced through the grass for a while, enjoying both the view and the smell, when she noticed that she was not alone. A few feet ahead of her, Yugo was sitting in the middle of a small clearing, cross-legged with his hands resting on his knees. His eyes were closed, and apart from his slow breathing that would have been imperceptible to Eva if she didn't have those acute Cra eyes, he was perfectly still.

She just stood there, observing the boy, unable to decide if she could just walk to him and have a chat, or if it was better to leave him alone. Then seeing how he seemed to be lost in meditation, she chose the latter, and turned on her heels. She had barely made the first step backwards when Yugo spoke up.

"No Eva, please stay."

The young Cra stood there, startled. There was no way the boy could have noticed her. His eyes were still closed, and she didn't make any sound when she moved. But there was no point pretending she wasn't there.

"You're sure I'm not bothering you?" she asked.

The young Eliatrope chuckled softly. "Why do you think that? Quite the opposite," he answered lightly. "Your presence is soothing. Come and sit if you like."

"Okay...If you say so."

Evangelyne walked to the boy and sat in the grass across from him. Yugo didn't move nor open his eyes. She had always known him to be weirder than average people, given his mysterious origins and unique magical abilities, but finding him meditating in the middle of the night was the next level of bizarre.

"So...you couldn't sleep either?" she asked awkwardly.

"Hmm. Yeah. When it happens I like to come here, it's so peaceful. You too?"

"Yes, exactly the same."

"If you want to talk about what bothers you, I'm here."

Evangelyne stared intently at the boy. He still had his eyes closed, a faint but encouraging smile on his lips. The way he seemed to see everything without even looking was getting slightly unnerving.

"I'm not...bothered by anything. It's fine."

"Yes you are. I can feel it. But I understand if you don't want to talk about it."

"No it's not that, it's just..." She sighed. Yes, it was exactly the problem. She didn't want to share her couple issues with Yugo. "There's nothing wrong," she lied. "Anyway, how can you _feel_ that? You didn't even look at me."

"I can feel your Wakfu", Yugo explained. "You, the plants, the trees, the rocks, everything. When it's quiet and I can focus, I feel it from much further, with more detail. I knew you were here long before you arrived."

Evangelyne nodded. "What does it look like for you?"

The boy frowned. "It's hard to explain...It's like if you ask me to describe a sound, or a colour. You see what I mean? I just feel it, that's all. And in a place like that where everything is alive, it's wonderful. I wish I could share it with you."

"So when you said my presence was soothing...you meant my Wakfu, right?"

Yugo smiled, his eyes still closed. "No, I meant your presence," he said softly. "Whenever you're around, you make me feel safe."

That made Eva think in silence for a while. She realised she felt the same way for him. After all the time they had spent together, even though they were completely unrelated, she considered Yugo like a little brother she had to protect.

"And you can identify anyone like that, just by their Wakfu?" she asked.

"Only people I know. I can identify strangers as strangers, but people like you, Ruel, Pinpin or Amalia, I know each of your Wakfu signatures, so it's easy. And speaking of that..."

Yugo fell silent for a moment, his brow furrowed, deeply concentrated. Evangelyne felt uneasy, as if he was looking right through her. She didn't think it was really the case, but she had secrets to hide after all, like anyone else.

"That's weird..." the boy murmured.

"What's the matter?"

"Well, it's like...I don't know. I've known your Wakfu for over a year now, well enough that I can even tell your emotions from it. But something has changed. It's like..."

Evangelyne shifted uncomfortably. Surely, he couldn't see this...

"Well, your usual Wakfu signature is still there," he continued. "But it's like there's another one, so feeble I can barely feel it, _inside_ of you. That doesn't make any sense, that would mean..."

Yugo froze. Then he opened his eyes in realisation and stared open-mouthed at Eva, unable to utter a word. He understood, and she understood that he understood.

"I'm so sorry Eva!" the boy blurted out. "I―I never meant to see that, I swear!"

Evangelyne could read on his face that he was honest, and when Yugo bore that regretful look, one had to be really heartless to get mad at him. The Cra sighed. That was really not the way she had planned to announce it, but now it was done...

"No problem Yugo", she said kindly. "It would have been visible in a few weeks anyway."

Yugo nodded, then he sighed, visibly relieved to have his involuntary lack of tact forgiven so easily. He grinned at her. "So you're going to become a mum? That's great!"

She smiled back at his enthusiasm, but she didn't feel it. "Yes, but...don't you see what it means?"

Yugo shook his head at her, clueless. Evangelyne knew it would be bad news for him, but he had to hear it before he found another adventure to lead them all into.

"That means I won't be able to follow the Brotherhood from now on."

The boy's face quickly went from joyful to crestfallen. "Oh...dang. I didn't see it that way. I mean, I understand of course, that's just...well, I didn't expect that."

"Why, you're planning to leave any time soon?" the Cra asked.

"Not really no, but it's not like we've ever planned anything so far," Yugo pointed out with a little smirk.

"That's the kind of things that were keeping you awake? Because you don't know what you're going to do next?"

The boy nodded. "Hmm. Part of, yes. Adamaï wanted us to leave, but to go where? We don't know where Phaeris is. We could go back to Emelka, but if anything important happens here, it's quite far away. So we're going to stay for the time being."

He paused, and Evangelyne could easily see from his uneasy look that the subject was bothering him. "So, what's the matter?" she asked.

"Well, you see, Adamaï thinks we don't belong here. When we see how the council went, maybe he's right, but I still don't feel that way. I don't understand why, but I feel like I'm part of this place. I feel at home. See what I mean?"

Evangelyne nodded. "Yes, I understand. I guess it's because you were raised apart. Surely Adamaï didn't see many humans before you arrived at Oma, so it's harder for him to see them as his own people."

"He didn't see any." Yugo chuckled. "That's why he has so much trouble to deal with people. That's funny to see, until he tries to burn someone just because he's angry."

Evangelyne smiled back, trying to encourage him to speak his heart. "You said that was only part of the things keeping you awake. There's something else? If you want to talk, you know you can tell me anything."

The boy looked uneasy again. He shifted uncomfortably, uncrossing his legs. "Well, yeah. I suppose I can tell you. I can't help thinking about Qilby. I feel sorry for him. I know I did what had to be done. There wasn't much of a choice anyway. But still...that's an horrible fate. I just spent a short time alone in the Blank Dimension and it was unbearable. So to think he's going to spend centuries stuck there...I wish I could have worked out a better solution for him."

Evangelyne had caught up with the story after the council, along with the rest of the Brotherhood of the Tofu, but Yugo hadn't provided them with that much detail. "You feel _sorry_ for him?" she asked, surprised. "After all the horrible things he did to your people?"

"Hold on, I'm not saying he's not evil", Yugo corrected. "He had to be stopped. But making him suffer won't repair anything. And of course I don't remember, but before he did what he did, before he got desperate to the point of betraying us, maybe we could have taken better care of him. That's what he was blaming me for anyway."

"Come on Yugo. If you start blaming yourself for mistakes you may have made in your previous lives, you'll never see the end of it." The boy didn't look convinced, so Evangelyne tried a different approach. "It's nothing definitive anyway. You can go back to him somehow, don't you? After all, you were able to get him out of there once."

Yugo frowned, thinking. "Well...not by myself, I needed the Eliacube for that, although...with the help of Balthazar that should be possible. But what for? I have no better solution for him."

"Not right now, but let's say you come up with something better along the way. You can always go find him and help him properly later on."

Yugo thought about it for a while, then his face illuminated with a large smile. "Of course! It's not over, I just have to keep looking for a better answer. I didn't see it that way. Thanks Eva!"

Evangelyne smiled back at him. When there was nothing else to cheer one up, hope was often the only solution, and she knew it. "There's still one thing I wanted to ask you," she said. "But don't answer if you don't feel like it."

"Okay..." the boy answered warily. "Ask away."

"Back on the boat, when we arrived at the Crimson Claws, you asked us to let you go alone, and for a moment I thought we had convinced you to stick together. But you still left. Why?"

Yugo thought about the answer for a while, and Evangelyne could see from his face that he wasn't bothered by the question. He was just searching for the right words.

"When I was fighting Qilby," he explained, "several times I felt like giving up. I mean, he was much more powerful, and I never managed to hit him. Not even once. It was just too hard. If I didn't have your words fresh in my mind, it would have ended just like that."

Yugo met Eva's gaze. "You gave me the courage to see it through, because I wasn't fighting just for me. I was fighting for all of you. But it wasn't _your_ fight. I could see that no matter what I said, you would come along, so I came up with this idea of stranding you up in the middle of the sea. I'm not proud of it, but I didn't want you to get involved, because someone could have ended up dead and it would have been my fault."

"No, never," Eva denied adamantly. "How can you think that?"

The boy shrugged. "I already felt that way for Pinpin. This time I used the Eliacube. That's what started it all. In a way, I'm responsible of everything."

"That doesn't change anything. We followed you on this quest because we wanted to. If we turned our backs on you at the first real difficulty, what would it tell about us? That we're only fair-weather friends right?"

"I...Well, yeah, I suppose so," Yugo hesitated.

"Exactly. Did you think for a second about how it would have felt for us if _you_ got killed back there, when we couldn't help you?"

"In that case the world would have been destroyed," the young Eliatrope noted. "I'm not sure it matters at all."

Evangelyne shook her head and stared intently at him. "It does. Never assume again that we need you to protect us from ourselves. Everyone was perfectly aware of the risks involved, and everyone was willing to stand by your side until the very end."

Yugo shook his head, his expression confused. "I don't understand. Why are you all willing to risk your lives for me? Why is it so important?"

"But...because we're friends, Yugo."

As the implications of those simple words sank in, Yugo nodded slowly and smiled. Eva really meant it, convinced that the boy was feeling the same towards her. They have had the occasion to prove it several times each already. He had saved her from Count Vampyro. She had saved him from the Voice Thief. There wasn't any point keeping scores anyway.

"Thanks Eva. That was nice chatting with you," Yugo said, stifling a yawn. "It's getting late though, we should―"

He stopped mid-sentence, frozen on the spot, open-mouthed. His wide open eyes expressed what looked like terror. Suddenly he gripped his head with both hands and yelped in pain.

"Are you okay?" Evangelyne asked urgently.

"I am," he groaned through gritted teeth. "But Adamaï isn't. Sorry, I must go."

Before Evangelyne could say anything, Yugo jumped on his feet, opened a portal and dove through it, suddenly becoming a ribbon of blue light that darted in the night sky towards the upper floors of the palace. The next second, the young Cra was sitting alone in the grass, bewildered as usual to notice how everything seemed to go at a quicker pace whenever Yugo was around.

* * *

Yugo always hated that feeling. If only he could know exactly what was happening. But no, that would have been so _convenient_. All he felt was his brother's suffering, without any way to know why, leaving him with only a deep sense of dread until he could find out. That was much worse when they were separated by whole oceans. Luckily this time he was only a few seconds away from his brother.

The boy flew through the window of their bedroom. He landed clumsily, carried away by the precipitation. He got back on his feet and immediately scanned the room, looking for any intruder, only to find out that he was alone with his brother. He could barely see him in the darkness. The little dragon was lying down in his bed, eyes closed. He would have looked to be peacefully sleeping, if he wasn't shivering badly from head to toe. Another fresh wave of anxiety assaulted Yugo as he rushed to his brother's side.

"Adamaï. Adamaï!" the boy called, shaking his brother by the shoulders to wake him up. The dragon opened his eyes and cast a glassy look at Yugo's face. The unbearable feeling of fear and the violent headache immediately stopped, but Adamaï still looked feverish.

"Yugo...that's really you? Oh dang..." he moaned numbly.

"Of course that's me bro. What happened?"

"I―I was just..." the dragon stammered. He managed to focus a bit more, and sighed with relief. "Thanks the Goddess...that was just a dream."

"Not a nice one, right?"

"Not really, no."

Even though the temperature in the room was pleasant, Adamaï was still shaking like a leaf. Yugo had his own solution for that kind of problems.

"Okay, move a bit," he ordered. "Leave me some room."

"What? Don't be stupid, the bed is too small for both of us."

"Excuses," Yugo retorted. "This is my brother duty and you won't stop me."

Adamaï shook his head, slightly bemused. Yugo knew his brother wasn't used to physical contact. Their extremely rare hugs had always felt awkward. But now that Adamaï was stuck with such a cuddly and stubborn brother, he didn't have much of a choice. Besides, he needed it.

Adamaï moved to the side of his bed, and Yugo laid down next to him. The boy latched his little arms tightly around his brother's torso, soothing his chills. If the dragon was tense at first, he quickly relaxed.

"There. Nothing a good hug can't take care of. How do you feel?"

"Much better," Adamaï admitted. "How did you know?"

"Dad did that every time I had a nightmare," Yugo explained. "You're my brother, there's no way you can't like a good hug. Grougal never did it?"

Adamaï chuckled and snorted at the same time, making a strange sound. "No, hugs were not really his thing. He had other ways to let me know he loved me, like when he pushed me off a cliff on the first day he taught me how to fly."

"What? How does that show he loved you?"

"Because he caught me before I crashed and died. That proves he cared about me."

"Okay..." Yugo muttered, slightly baffled. He had trouble to understand that peculiar way of expressing love, but then maybe it was the dragon's way, much like Adamaï had trouble to understand the human way.

"Anyway, what was this nightmare about?" Yugo asked. He feared that Anathar was now possessing his brother's dreams after doing so with his body.

"It was...well, really strange. It felt much more real than a usual dream somehow. I was standing alone, and throughout the whole thing I was feeling a great void, as if you were, you know..." Adamaï swallowed a lump. He couldn't say the word, obviously extremely uncomfortable with the idea of losing his brother.

"I'm here," Yugo said gently. "I'll always be here."

"Well, maybe not forever. You know, maybe I shouldn't talk about it but...what happens if only one of us dies? Knowing that the other has to end it if we want to get reborn...what would you do if I died?"

Yugo had never given much thought to that idea, and he really didn't like it. He couldn't envision going on with his own life while feeling a permanent huge gap in his heart where Adamaï would have been, but if the only other option was suicide... "If something bad has to happen, then we'd better make sure it gets both of us," he concluded firmly.

"True. That would make everything so much simpler. Together 'til the end."

"Together 'til the end," Yugo repeated. He hugged his brother a bit more tightly, feeling his now much calmer breathing underneath his arms. "Anyway, even if I was dead in your dream, that means nothing. That's just a dream."

"You're right. But there's a bit more to it," Adamaï continued. "So I stood there, in the middle of that strange landscape...it looked liked everything had been burnt to the ground. There was grey ash everywhere, as far as I could see. Then at one point, I looked at the horizon, and I'm pretty sure..."

Yugo knew where it was going before he heard it. An icy feeling swelled inside his chest that had nothing to do with the somewhat cooler skin of his cold-blooded brother.

"Well, I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I saw the Tree of Life."

* * *

_A/N_

_And that concludes the first part. The second season's ending leaves a lot of loose ends to play with, obviously intended for a third season that's still up in the air. This is just my take on the subject, but I felt there was a lot of room for discontent and conflict in the wake of Qilby's actions. Also I apologize for the outrageous amounts of Yugo+Adamaï, but the way they got separated and their combined strengths never exploited in the series was a frustration to me, which I'm aiming to correct. Anyway, the next chapter will set things in motion._

_As usual, please feel free to tell me what you think of it. You telling me is the only way I can possibly know. Or I could learn telepathy, but it's a lot more practical if you just tell me. Also I'd like to thank again everyone who's following and commenting, the Wakfu fandom is small, and motivation is precious. I would have stopped long ago if no one cared. Thanks._


	4. Shushual suspects

Lucien wiped Akula's blood-covered blade on a dead man's ragged clothes. "I honestly don't know what to do any more," he admitted. "It seems like the promise of a long and peaceful life is inconsequential compared to the honour of impaling oneself upon your blade."

"I'm not complaining," Akula joked. "If it weren't for the noble sacrifice of these good men, our trip would be boring."

A regular traveller needed two weeks to make the trip from Bonta to Brakmar, using main roads and known Zaap portals. Ten days, if everything went well―which it never did. Bandits were more than common, and if travellers wanted to stay alive and well they had the choice between being poor, or able to defend themselves.

Lucien was both, and that always cut it, one way or another. Some robbers still attacked him, and then they stopped both their attack and their basic biological functions.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Akula, do you remember when I lost my passion for this job?"

She paused thoughtfully. "Um, Tuesday?"

"Was it? It feels like if you kill one bandit, you've killed them all, as if they're all created by some generic bandit factory."

"Well, if the senseless slaughter doesn't mean anything any more, what about the, uh, betterment of mankind?" She said the last few words with audible contempt.

Lucien shrugged as he climbed onto his dragoturkey. "Sure, these men did not deserve to live, but the chances they would find and kill someone who did are, well, non-existent."

They rode most of the day, stopping only for a quick lunch. They spent the night at one of the travellers relay inns that doted the main road. Lucien could have ridden much longer, not even minding the obscurity, but dragoturkeys were not machines and they needed to rest once in a while.

After two more Zaaps and a few days of riding through verdant forests under a pleasant sun, the landscape became barren, the trees scarce, and the sky bleak. They were approaching Brakmar, and they could tell long before they saw the actual place. Its giant volcanic rift affected the weather for miles and miles around. Massive cinder clouds frequently drizzled acid rain, deadly for the plant life.

The city had expanded inside the rift itself. From outside one could only see a gigantic gash in the earth, like an open wound, glowing red from the lava flowing at the bottom. Even if the founding of the city remained in mystery, its people widely believed it to be the work of Djaul, a Shushu who had ascended to become a protector of the months. And a quick look at the place made it perfectly plausible it was the brainchild of a demon.

The main road descended into the bowels of the city through a gigantic tunnel, buzzing with activity. Travellers and merchants were legion, attracted by the great opportunities arising from Brakmar's completely unregulated business. Everything had a price in Brakmar, even life. Lucien knew it better than anyone else.

They entered the city and made their way through crowded narrow streets, hailed from all sides by merchants selling a wide choice of more or less lethal products. Generally more than less.

"Why would you need poison anyway," Akula said nonchalantly. "It's not like people being stabbed into the heart need to be poisoned on top of that."

"Not everyone has our skill."

"Which makes it even worse. If they don't know what to do with a blade already, add that poison and a clumsy cut to their finger will kill them. It's downright retarded. True professionals would never need stuff like that."

"You can also pour it into a drink," Lucien noted. "That's a coward move, but efficient."

"What? And waste the joy of a perfectly pleasurable knife kill? If you do that to me, I'll go on a strike."

The Sram laughed light-heartedly. "There will be no need to resort to such extreme measures," he said.

It was one thing they could agree on. They were both blade purists and Lucien would rather master every way to kill with knives, swords and daggers than condescend to use some sort of artifice. The Sram thought this way because it was more efficient, whereas Akula just found it more enjoyable.

Brakmar kept growing over time, with new buildings and new bridges each year, generally dug directly into the stone or attached to the large rocky peaks that emerged from the lava. Even though the Brakmarian engineers had outstanding skill, earthquakes often shook off some buildings and their inhabitants into the magma below. Such was life in Brakmar.

The Guild had been built into one amongst the largest peaks of the city. It had been one of the first buildings in Brakmar, but somehow it still stood pretty much alone, like some invisible, evil aura had discouraged any expansion into it's neighbourhood. Which wasn't that far from the truth, now Lucien thought about it.

They quickly crossed the last bridge leading to the Guild's entrance, marked by a gigantic skull sculpture that seemed to swallow them as they went through. Lucien dismounted his dragoturkey and attached it in the courtyard. It was surrounded by stairs and doors leading in all directions, and filled with people in black hooded cloaks who silently attended to their own business. One of them advanced towards the Sram.

"Oath-sworn Lucien. You've returned," the hooded man noted coldly.

"Yep," Lucien answered cheerfully. "How's it going, pal?"

The man seemed a bit baffled by that display of familiarity. He cleared his throat. "The Master has been waiting for you."

"I figured so. May I see him now?"

"You may."

"Cheers mate."

Lucien knew the place perfectly well and he didn't need directions. He headed straight for a nearby staircase, carved directly into the volcanic stone just as about everything else in the Guild, including the furniture. The beds were kind of an issue.

When they were out of earshot, Akula giggled as quietly as she could. "That face he made when you called him 'Pal', it was brilliant."

"I hate these guys. They always seem to have a stick up their ass."

"Well, it's pretty obvious they hate you too."

"Of course they do. We have nothing in common," Lucien said as he climbed the narrow spiral staircase, lined with torches. "Most of them have been here for generations and they're more concerned about living up to the name of their ancestors than actually doing the job. Of course they're going to hate someone like me, who came from the streets and climbed every rank with hard work. They can't even begin to understand what it's like to actually _earn_ something."

"My hero," Akula said gleefully.

Lucien sighed. It was not the first time they discussed it. He never considered himself to be part of the Guild as a whole. Its cumbersome ceremony seemed so frivolous. The Guild would have been so much better off if someone took the tumour of its traditions and just severed it.

He reached the top of the staircase and followed a narrow corridor. For any outsider the Guild was like a maze, but Lucien had been trained to remember floor plans and his own home had been his first practical exercise. The Guild's intricate architecture was contrived by the dense magmatic rock it had been built into, and the incredible effort required to dig any new room had made everything rather narrow and oppressively small.

The Sram didn't cross any guards, as there wasn't any need for them. One had to be seriously disturbed to sneak into a place crammed with professional assassins.

Lucien arrived into the Master's room, which served both as his office and personal quarters. It was small and simple, functional without any superfluous decoration, and opened on a balcony that gave a nice view over Brakmar and its lava rivers.

"The Master isn't here," Akula noted.

"What a perceptive Shushu you are, I don't know how I'd survive without you. We'll just wait for him," Lucien said while taking a seat. A pile of paper reports sat on the desk, but the Sram resisted his urge to look at them.

The Master arrived shortly after, stooping and coughing even worse than Lucien could remember. His health had been frail for ages and it didn't seem to get any better.

For someone in charge of a legion of spies and assassins, the Master didn't impress for sure. His craggy face and bald skull showed his great age while his simple black robes, the same as the other regular agents, weren't meant to display any kind of hierarchical prevalence. His small and thin frame didn't intimidate either, but his piercing stare chilled murderers to the bone.

He had the power to sign a death warrant for any person in the world, and people who wielded that ability didn't need to look impressive at all.

Lucien stood up and bowed respectfully, but the Master impatiently motioned him to sit down while coughing some more. He stood by his desk, pressing his hands on the stony surface for support.

"They tell tourists that the Brakmarian weather can cure anything," the Master sneered. "Sulphuric fumes ain't doing me any good for sure."

His voice was hoarse and gravelly, like pebbles rubbing against each other. Lucien smiled back politely at him, but the well-being of the only person in the world he respected wasn't a subject he'd joke about. The Master caught his stare and smirked at him.

"You look at me just like that little boy I found on the streets years ago. Everybody dies, you know that Lucien. Of all people I'd expect you to be especially aware of that. And by the look of it, I'm getting there rather quickly."

"I know Master. It's just that...the Guild won't be the same without you."

The Master had another bout of coughing before he could speak again. Lucien respectfully waited for him.

"For sure it won't. Especially for you. That's why we need to talk. Where's Farkas?"

The Sram shifted on his seat uncomfortably when he realised he hadn't given a single thought to his so called team-mate for days. "I have no idea," he admitted.

The Master cast his hard, soul-piercing stare directly at Lucien. "You have no idea," he repeated. "You have no friggin' idea. Ain't that great?" He slowly sat down at his desk across from Lucien. "Do you have any idea how it's important for you two to stick together?"

"Honestly? No. I can do the job alone. Farkas lacks the subtlety needed to avoid unnecessary confrontations. He's just a burden for me."

The Master joined his hands before his face, letting an uneasy silence settle. "A burden," he said finally. "I'll make it crystal clear just for you. I'll be gone in a few weeks at most, and the next Guild Master will be someone from the inner circle, 'cause that's the way it works. Whoever it turns out to be, he won't have any patience for you and your manners. He'll do everything to get you killed. You'll get all the suicide missions until you don't make it back."

More coughing, then the Master grabbed his handkerchief to spit some blood into it. Lucien tried not to show it, but he found it painful to see the old man like that.

"Farkas is the only other outsider besides you," the Master continued. "And you're on the same boat together. That's why it's important you stop bickering just because he doesn't do the job the way you'd have done it. He may be an annoying brat, but you'll need him to watch your back, and vice versa. Is that clear?"

"It is," Lucien answered firmly. He would never trust Farkas to watch his back, especially since he could make his back disappear altogether if he wanted to, but the Master's words made sense. Being part of the Guild would become tricky once his protector would be gone. Maybe he shared more with Farkas than he cared to admit.

"Right. From now on you'll be a good boy and do some efforts if you don't want to end up cold. It's really up to you. There's another matter we need to discuss."

The Master picked up the messy stack of papers on the desk, arranged them into a neat pile and held them out for Lucien.

"This is for you. Do you know about the Eliatropes?"

The Sram looked up from the papers onto his Master's face with a puzzled expression.

"The Eliatropes? No, but the name isn't unknown either. Aren't they an ancient people that died out aeons ago somehow?"

"Yes. And apparently they're going to come back, and it's becoming a world issue, with diplomatic councils, angry talks between major rulers, everything. We don't know what they're up to or what they're really capable of, but some people are already rattling their swords in expectation."

Lucien looked quickly through the report of the Council of Twelve that had taken place in the Sadida Kingdom a few weeks before. Apparently an agent from the Guild had attended. It always amazed him to see how they were able to infiltrate everything.

"Their whole people is only children?" he asked with surprise. "The most powerful leaders of the World of Twelve are afraid of mere _children_?"

The Master sniggered at him. "You've ever heard of Nox?" he asked.

Lucien nodded. Not much was known about the power-mad Xelor. He wasn't the kind to leave survivors, just a vacant ruin that travellers would later attribute to the Ogrest's Chaos. "If I remember correctly, he was defeated by the Sadida army after he tried to consume their Tree of Life."

The Master chuckled bitterly. "Do your homework, kid. The entire Sadida army barely slowed him down. He was defeated by one Eliatrope child." He held up a bony finger. "Just one. And now ten thousand or more of these things are ready to spill everywhere like rabbits. So we're going to keep an eye on this matter, and if it turns out they have plans for world domination after all, children or not, we'll deal with the problem our way."

Lucien raised an eyebrow at these words. "Please forgive me but... You'd be ready to order the killing of children? Isn't it forbidden by one of our most sacred rules?"

"If you can kill one children to save a thousand, and you don't do it, then you're killing one thousand children. It's the end result that matters. We never take justice contracts against children, but if a child climbed on the throne of Brakmar and started a war to exterminate some nation, I'd kill him without hesitation. The same applies here. Until we know for sure they really have those peaceful intentions they speak of, we have to stay wary."

Lucien nodded. "I see. Is there more to it?"

"Yes. No matter what their intentions are, some people don't want to take chances with them. In fact, most of the Kingdoms have already said they don't want to see the Eliatropes come back, but they ain't going to start a war over it. Except..."

"...Brakmar," Lucien completed.

"Of course. They've been designing a lot of shiny toys lately, costly toys too, and building them would be great for the economy. Truces are getting old, and the Prince is looking for an excuse, anything really, that would allow Brakmar to start another good war."

"And the Eliatropes just offered them the perfect reason on a silver platter."

"Exactly. Those kids are not even back and they're already allied with the Sadida and Bonta, the arch-enemy of Brakmar. All Brakmar has to do is to vilify the Eliatropes, convince their own allies the youngsters are up to something bad, and when the Sadida move to protect them the situation will escalate into another full scale war. It will make everything that already happened into your short lifetime look like peace in comparison."

Lucien exchanged a meaningful glance with Akula. "There's been other wars before," he said. "The world has survived every one of them."

"So far, it has. But with all the new technology involved, no one can predict how this one will end. Here, have a look," the Master said while handing a blueprint to Lucien.

"What is it?"

"A siege machine. The design seems a bit inspired by the fortress Nox used, with those arachnoid legs to go everywhere."

"Wow…the scale has to be wrong."

"It's not, it's really that huge. And it's supposed to spew out molten boulders or something. It would be a shame if the next opponent Brakmar manages to find had a forest-covered territory that could burn, right?"

Lucien examined the blueprint more closely. Indeed it looked very much like a metallic arachne, and a gigantic one for sure. "Are the Sadida aware of the threat?"

"Of course not," the Master said with a tired sigh. "That would only make things worse. There's also warmongers on the Sadida's side, like the crown prince Armand. We sent false intelligence their way to keep them nice and quiet while we deal with the situation."

"But if things escalate, they will be unprepared," Lucien noted.

"That's the risk, yes. But as I told you, if things really go downhill this time around, prepared or not there won't be much left to be saved."

Lucien frowned in confusion. "Still, I don't see what's new. If there is any clear indication that one of the Kingdoms wants to escalate the situation into a full scale war, we're here to stop it as usual. The mere threat of us intervening is usually enough to keep everyone from acting."

"That's exactly the damn problem son. I don't know who'll take charge after me. If it's someone who has a personal interest in the matter, maybe even a relative of the Brakmarian Prince, I can tell you that the well-being of innocent children won't be a major concern any more."

The Sram started to get a clear idea of what his Master wanted him to do. "You want me to kill the new Master if he allows that war to happen?"

"Hold on. We're not there yet. But if it's down to that, I expect you to use your judgement, and not fail me. Whatever happens we must stay true to our creed. Justice and order."

Lucien nodded. "I'll see to it. Although to be honest, I'd have preferred to get a new list of people who had escaped their due punishment instead. It would have been so much simpler."

"Life ain't easy, and wishes are for children. In the meantime you can do whatever you like. I just want you near the Guild if something happens─or rather _when_ something happens."

Even though it was clear Lucien was dismissed, he didn't rise from his seat.

"A problem son?" the Master asked.

"Not really no, just...what do you think will be the outcome if this war really happens?"

"Innocent people will die by the thousands," the older man snapped. "What kind of a question is that?"

"Of course, sorry, I mean...because of the fight, Kingdoms will be weakened and won't be able to maintain their authority. Do you think their peoples will be able to revolt and take control?"

The Master sighed and considered him silently for a moment. Lucien shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"You seem to think it'd be a good thing," the Master said. "Let me tell you son, it ain't."

"How so? People here in Brakmar are barely more than slaves, forced to work until exhaustion just to pay for their food and housing, when they're not literally slaves. The elite exploits them and would mostly evade justice if it wasn't for us. How could it end up any worse than it already is?"

The older man had a wry snicker that sent him on yet another coughing bout.

"You're blinded by youthful idealism," he continued in between coughs, before spitting blood into his handkerchief once again. "The Guild has had its fair share of philosophers like you over the years, but we already drew the conclusions long ago. We maintain order and do our best to ensure justice is done, because it's best for the people. They ain't going to achieve anything on their own, apart from killing each other to survive. Do you think it would be any better?"

"But people aren't free," Lucien pointed out.

"Would they rather be free, or alive? If they were free, they'd be free to murder, steal and rape to their hearts' content. It would be somewhere between the law of the jungle and total chaos. That's why we're here son. People are much better off with that crappy system, instead of no system at all. There's no discussion. Off you go."

The Master switched his attention to the piles of papers on his desk, and Lucien had nothing to add. He stood up and left without another word.

"That went rather well," Akula said jokingly once they were back in the staircase, on their way to the courtyard below.

"Shut up," Lucien retorted sullenly.

"Oh come on, you're not going to have a sulk on me now, are you? You knew he wouldn't like your ideas."

"That suits you well, cause unless I'm mistaken you agree with him."

"Of course I do," Akula said kindly. "But I have different reasons. If everyone murders each other, what's left for me to kill?"

Lucien shook his head with amused disbelief. "I wonder how you can be so vicious," he said.

Akula chuckled happily. "Thanks. I'd be blushing if I knew how. So what now? We have so little free time usually, I have no idea what to do with it. I suppose killing random people for shit and giggles isn't an option ?"

"You suppose right. How about having a walk down town? It's been ages since we've been there and I don't have a better idea anyway."

"Sounds boring, but I can't think of anything either. Hopefully there'll be a good fight going on somewhere and we can get involved. That would make my day."

* * *

Yugo was in trouble.

Truth be told, he'd been warned beforehand. Adamaï had told him countless times his eagerness to accept any and every challenge that came his way would cost him dearly one day. And clearly this time he realised he had bitten on more than he could chew.

The boy raised his shield to block the incoming blow. Sharp pain shot up his right arm as his opponent's weapon struck with a loud thud. Yugo didn't let out any sound, gritting his teeth in a futile effort to make it look like he was still coping with the onslaught.

The next impact was strong enough to force him to let go of his shield, leaving him with only his short sword as a makeshift defence. He held it clumsily with the blade in front of his face, having no clue what to do with it.

With portals and magic forbidden by the rules, Yugo was just feeling hopelessly inadequate.

The next sequence of attacks was too quick for him to fully realise what was happening. One powerful swing, and his sword was suddenly ripped out of his hand, landing a dozen feet away. A sharp elbow struck him square in the chest, making him fall on his back in the dirt. Then the killing blow came, aimed right between his eyes and about to split his skull open.

It stopped an inch away from his face.

"Come on Yugo, you're not even trying," Tristepin taunted.

"We're supposed to be _training_, but you only tried to kill me so far," Yugo retorted, looking back at the Ginger Knight. Tristepin's wooden sword was right against the boy's face, splitting his field of view neatly. Yugo angrily pushed the blade away with the back of his hand.

"Hard training, easy war," the Iop recited cheerfully as he straightened up. "With everything you said about magical Wakfu swords and all that stuff, I expected a lot better from you."

"I have no clue what to do with that thing. That's why I asked you to train me before you turned it into a competition, in case you already forgot. Also, Wakfu weapons don't weigh anything."

Tristepin just laughed at him, unnerving him even more. "You're telling me your wooden gear is too heavy? Even Az weighs more than that."

The little Tofu chirped happily from the bench he was sitting on, next to a very bored Rubilax and a sulking Adamaï.

They were in the Sadida arena, the fighting pit right next to the palace where Tristepin and Prince Armand had brawled the year before. Yugo had no memory of that since at this time he had been busy going after a Dofus on the other side of the world, but he had heard the story afterwards.

When no event was taking place, the royal guards used the arena for training. A few of them had come to watch, attracted by the promise of two legendary warriors from the Brotherhood of the Tofu having a spar, but what they had been presented so far had left them rather disappointed, if not downright bored.

Yugo sat up, his clothes covered in dirt and his hair matted by sweat. As a stark contrast, The Knight's hair was as impeccable as ever, and the absence of any mark or bruise on his bare chest clearly indicated that Yugo hadn't hit him even once. It enraged the boy even more to notice that Tristepin wasn't looking any more tired than if he'd been sitting down doing nothing, let alone having a fight.

To be fair, their 'fight' was so one-sided it was a bit presumptuous to call it a fight.

Yugo sighed from the frustration. "At least teach me something," he said. "There's no point going on like that. I'm well aware I suck at sword-fighting by now."

"Oh really?" Adamaï yelled from his seat. "I couldn't tell from here. You sure you're not pretending to be so hilariously hopeless bro?"

"Shut up!" Yugo shouted back furiously. "I'd like to see you try," he added under his breath.

Tristepin smiled at him gently. "Come on buddy. I just wanted to see what you could do. I'll teach you the basics then." He offered Yugo his hand and yanked the young Eliatrope back on his feet.

"Right. First thing you need to understand is that staying under your shield without fighting back is only good for turtles and Fecas. Maybe I have a problem with my eyesight, but I'm quite sure you're not a turtle. Of course that's nice to have a shield, especially if it's magical and all, but if you never attack you're just buying time. Sword only now."

Yugo shook his head in disbelief. "That doesn't make any sense. If I couldn't hold against you with a shield, how's it going to be any better without one?"

Tristepin put his hands on his hips and let out an impatient sigh. "Hey, remember you asked me to train you. I made my point showing how you would have ended up dead in ten seconds if it was a real fight. So how about you just accept the lesson, instead of questioning everything?"

Yugo blushed slightly as he realised his friend was entirely right. His performance didn't entitle him to any remarks, and he was much better off listening to the advice the Ginger Knight was kindly willing to provide him with.

Without adding a word, Tristepin took his wooden sword by the blade and offered the hilt to Yugo. The boy took hold of it firmly with his right hand, but as soon as he did, Tristepin looked at him quizzically.

"What? I'm not even able to hold a sword properly?" Yugo said with a smirk, half expecting his friend to confirm he was really that bad.

"No, it's not about that... Are you really right-handed?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Of course I am. Why?"

"You were holding your shield with your right hand earlier."

Yugo paused, staring blankly at the sword in his right hand. Tristepin was right. He had the sword in his left hand before.

"I...really don't know," he hesitated. "That just felt more natural, I guess. When I summon my Wakfu shield it's on my right arm too... Or at least it was, when I could do that."

"I really thought you were left-handed because of that. It's strange, 'cause usually in two-handed combat you use your weapon with your dominant hand, it's only logical."

Tristepin frowned thoughtfully, obviously trying to figure out the reason behind that oddity, and Yugo didn't have a better explanation either.

"Anyway, nevermind that," the Iop said finally. "Now get into a defensive position."

Yugo assumed the same position he had before, his sword straight up in front of his nose. Tristepin shook his head at him, and Yugo started to wonder if he was really that hopeless.

"Keeping your sword in front of your face like that is silly," the Knight said. "If I strike hard enough, I'll kill you with your own weapon."

To demonstrate, Tristepin pushed hard on the blade to hit Yugo on the forehead.

"Ouch! I understood you the first time! You don't need to hit me all the time to drill it in," Yugo said, rubbing his sore brow.

"Like my Master always said, important lessons have to be struck into your skull to be remembered."

"Yeah but I'm not Iop you know, in fact I'll understand _less_ if you keep hitting me on the head."

"Well it's pretty obvious you're not a Iop. You fight like a pansy."

"One point each, it's a draw," Adamaï called.

"Shut up Ad'!"

"Come on now. Focus and listen," Tristepin said sternly. Yugo nodded and took a deep calming breath, trying to ignore his brother's stupid giggles in the background.

"That's the spirit. So, about your defence problem. If you only try to block my attacks, it won't work, because I'm much stronger than you. Your only concern is to make sure I don't hit you, and to do that, you can either dodge or deflect."

Tristepin went to retrieve the second wooden sword that was still on the ground.

"I'm really not worried for the 'dodge' part, since you can use your portals to move around. Now deflecting is more tricky. Let's try something. I'll attack you, and you're going to block it."

"Okay, but―"

Yugo barely saw the attack coming. He raised his own sword just quickly enough to block it right on top of his head. For sure, when Tristepin trained, it wasn't a game. He pushed on Yugo's sword with such force that the boy had to put his other hand on the wooden blade to hold his ground.

"Perfect. Now attack me," the Iop said casually.

"What? I can't!" Yugo grunted through gritted teeth. He had enough trouble to hold his position, and it was pretty obvious that if he stopped doing that Tristepin's sword would come crashing into his face immediately.

"Of course you can't. That's why blocking is useless," Tristepin said as he lifted his blade, allowing Yugo to catch his breath. "Deflecting is much better, because that'll leave you in a position to counter-attack. So, I'm going to attack you again..." He smiled when Yugo immediately assumed a defensive position, expecting the attack to come just as quickly. "Nice, you're learning. Don't worry, we're going to do that in slow motion this time, because if you screw this up I might actually kill you for real. We'll practice the move a bit, then do it at the normal pace."

"The pace where you can kill me, right?"

"Exactly. So I'm going to strike downwards again, and you'll meet the attack then deflect it to the side. Let's do it."

Even though Tristepin said he would slow down, it still went a bit too fast for Yugo's comfort. But thanks to his quick reflexes, he timed his swing perfectly to meet his opponents blade and push it sideways as far as he could in a wide arc, nearly touching the ground. Then not knowing what to do next, he just froze, noticing that Tristepin didn't move either.

"See the difference?" the Knight asked.

"Yeah, it was much easier than blocking."

"And?"

Yugo observed the awkward static position they were in.

"My blade is on top of yours, not below like before."

"Exactly, so now you can attack me and I'll have a hard time defending. Let's do it again at normal speed."

"What? We only did it once, and―"

Yugo understood that he had to be constantly wary, without realising it was exactly what Tristepin was trying to teach him. The attack came down faster than the last one and even with a wooden sword, any hit would hurt badly. Luckily for him Yugo managed to repeat the gesture perfectly, the swords meeting with a loud noise as the boy cleanly drove his opponent's blade sideways. Then he proceeded to strike back immediately, swinging his weapon at a seemingly defenceless Tristepin.

It went much faster than his brain could process. A powerful hand grabbed his wrist just below the hilt of his sword, he felt his feet leave the ground which became the sky then the ground again, and the next second his back was slammed against the dirt, winding his breath out of him. He barely registered the sword pressing at his throat.

"That was very good!" Tristepin cheered.

"Very...good?" Yugo managed to articulate, bewildered. "You just...wasted me once more, I don't even know how."

"Well of course I did, otherwise you were going to hit me. Still, the deflect move and then the counter-attack, it was very well done. You're learning quickly. But if you expected to hit me after ten minutes of training, you're going to be disappointed. Come on, let's do it again."

"Wait, I need to rest for a sec," Yugo said. He was still recovering from having his back painfully slammed flat on the ground.

Tristepin frowned at him severely. "Really? The day you'll get into a real fight and it's too difficult for you, that's what you're going to do? Ask the other guy to be nice enough to give you a little time out?"

"Come on Pinpin, it's not a real fight."

"It is, or that means I'm not making it hard enough for you. If training doesn't prepare you for the real thing, it's useless. And if you think you're going to get a special treatment because you're a kid or something, you can forget about it, right here, right now. Now back on your feet and let's do it again."

Yugo understood what his friend meant. Hard training, easy war. Even thought he would endure a lot more than he had bargained for, the training had to teach him to fight like his life depended on it, or he wouldn't survive a real sword-fight anyway. As the great friend he was, Tristepin did his best to make sure Yugo wouldn't get disillusioned the hard way.

Of course Yugo had found himself into many fights already, alone or with the Brotherhood. Even if he didn't win all of them, at least he survived every occasion. But trading his portals for a sword was entirely new, and even though it meant he had to start from scratch, he could see how this knowledge would have turned his fight against Qilby into something entirely different. More based on him actually winning, rather than being saved by a lucky intervention.

With the boy's motivation renewed, they kept on sparring. Yugo had always known the Ginger Knight to be a fierce warrior, but getting a first-hand experience of Tristepin's mastery of both sword-fighting and martial arts was impressive for sure. And painful too. Every single blow was carried out with full strength, making every defensive move on Yugo's part an exhausting effort. He ended up crashing in the dirt more times than he could count.

Whenever they had fought together, Yugo never doubted of Tristepin's worth as a fighter. The Knight always made it look like fighting was easy as he swung his Shushu-sword at the monster of the day. But Yugo started to understand how sword-fighting was all about quick thinking and careful decision-making rather than brute strength alone, and he realised how Tristepin's skill was in fact exceptional and people name-calling Iops for being idiots were far from the truth.

Sure, Iops weren't skilled for intellectual matters, but it was because they invested their cerebral capacities into a way of fighting that was just short of being an art. When Yugo fully realised that, he felt blessed and honoured to be trained by one of the best Iop warriors the World of Twelve had to offer.

Quickly, the young Eliatrope became better, and even if his skill couldn't begin to compare he was making good progress. Or at least, he wasn't as ridiculous and hopeless as when they had started.

For what felt like several hours they didn't slow down, with Tristepin driving Yugo to his physical limit. When fatigue made the boy accumulate mistakes, Tristepin deemed it was too dangerous to continue.

"It's time for the lunch break anyway," the Iop said cheerfully.

"You're always hungry," Yugo retorted in the middle of his heavy breathing. His whole body ached, and he felt dizzy. "How come you don't even look tired?"

"Because I spent all morning fighting a beginner half my size. How's that tiring? Anyway, are we getting back to work after lunch?" Tristepin asked eagerly.

"No, I'll spend the afternoon with Adamaï. I also need to learn how to summon those Wakfu weapons to make your training useful. And to be honest I don't feel like going through more of that today..."

"Pansy."

"Iop-brain."

They grinned sheepishly, and Yugo realised how they could taunt the hell out of each other and laugh about it.

The difficult moments they shared had glued them together like brothers. They were side by side in Rushu's arena, prepared to make their final stand. Tristepin was the only person who managed to cheer Yugo up when he was dealing with Adamaï's suffering. Then he was the last person Yugo spoke to before he took off to fight Qilby, an ordeal that drained him of his very last ounce of resolve, courage, and strength.

At that moment, Yugo fully realised how Tristepin had been a vital presence in his quest to find his origins. Sure, it all started with Yugo saving Tristepin from the possession of his Shushu, but everything afterwards would have failed badly if Tristepin wasn't part of their little group.

Yugo couldn't resist the urge to hug him. Tristepin laughed as he patted the top of the boy's hat gently. "What is this for?" he asked.

"Thanks for training me," Yugo answered, looking up at the Ginger Knight. From the fond look they exchanged, it was clear both of them realised there was a lot more than that to explain Yugo's sudden outburst of affection.

"Bah, that's my pleasure," Tristepin said kindly. "Like always."

Adamaï joined them, with Az perched on top of his head and Rubilax in his hands. They all seemed to be getting along better every day, Yugo noted.

"The last part was a lot more interesting," the Dragon said lightly. He handed the Shushu sword to Tristepin. "There seemed to be a real risk of grievous injury, and I liked it. With Rubi and Az we made a friendly bet about which limb you'd be the most likely to lose."

"I chose the head," the Shushu sneered. Then much to Yugo's surprise, Az chirped and waved a wing, showing how he had placed his own bet on the boy's right arm. That annoyed Yugo, and Adamaï could see it. "Joking aside, you got a lot better bro," he concluded hastily.

"Not thanks to you," the boy retorted.

"Oh come on, cry me a river. You're such a good client for taunts, it's hard to resist." Adamaï jostled his brother in the ribs teasingly. "Anyway, sorry Pinpin, but we have work to do. I'll let you kill my brother another day, I promise."

"For the love of everything that's sacred, I'd never harm my best buddy. You do know that, don't you Yugo?" Tristepin asked as he turned towards the worn Eliatrope with a worried look.

Yugo smiled back warmly. "Of course Pinpin. I know you do that for my own good, don't worry. Besides, I asked for it."

"Indeed! We're cool then. See you tomorrow?"

"For sure."

The Ginger Knight turned his back on them and walked away, whistling happily. Yugo felt light-headed from the exhaustion, his knees somewhat weak and shaking. Adamaï looked at his him cautiously.

"Everything's all right bro? You look a bit pale," he said.

For all answer, Yugo doubled over and vomited on the ground.

"Ewww. You didn't eat enough at breakfast? You're running low on sugar or something?"

Yugo straightened up cautiously, fighting his body's urge to pass out. "No, I don't need sugar..." he said with a weak smile, holding his ribs. "I just had too much Tristepin."

* * *

"Iop-brain," Akula hissed angrily at the ginger, broad man who just pushed Lucien aside in the crowd. The streets were wide enough, but they were packed with onlookers and tourists, too much for the Sram's comfort. And Akula didn't make it any better.

"Stop throwing insults at random people, you'll drag us in a fight," Lucien warned.

"Would it be such a bad thing?"

The Sram sighed from the exasperation. "If you get us into trouble, I'll use only the sabres for a whole month."

"Meanie."

They were strolling into one of the main arteries of Brakmar, lined on both sides with hundreds of shops selling everything they could ever want. It was as noisy at it could get, with merchants playing a stupid game of who would hail their potential clients the loudest. As they kept on wandering, finally Lucien spotted a darker, quieter alley.

"Let's have a look over there. Feels a lot more bearable than the main street."

Much less people walked around them now, and Lucien quickly noticed that most of the shops were selling things that would have been illegal anywhere else in the world, including living people for different purposes. Lucien cast the owner of a slave shop a dirty look as he moved on.

"Nothing we can do about it," Akula said sympathetically.

"I know," Lucien answered curtly. They turned at the next intersection.

"Shaggy's Shushus Shack," Lucien read aloud as they walked in front of a little boutique that wasn't much to look at otherwise.

"Sounds promising. Very few people are brave enough to trade Shushus, even in Brakmar."

"Brave or stupid, I'm curious now."

"I'll keep you safe, don't worry Lulu," Akula sneered.

The shop was larger than it seemed from the outside, brightly lit with many torches, and filled with demon possessed objects of all kinds, shapes and colours. Numerous swords and other classic weapons covered the stone walls, and several tables curved under the weight of trinkets and baubles which use was much less obvious. Lucien knew prison-objects could be pretty much anything, but 'anything' covered some very curious stuff that he would never have imagined.

He gave a prolonged and curious look to a Shushu whose shape didn't leave any doubt about its purpose. The demon glared back at him. "I've made more women scream than you'll ever meet," he sneered.

"You'd be surprised," Akula retorted before Lucien could say anything. "Although we're not talking about the same kind of screams I'm afraid."

At that moment every Shushu in the room noticed Akula. Then they all started jeering and whistling as one.

"Hey sexy lady, want to see my big sword?"

"What's that weakling you're hanging out with? I can get ten times larger than him!"

"See why I hate them all?" the Shushu lady yelled to cover the cacophony. "They're uncouth, brutish, lacking any class. They only understand basic urges like rampaging everything and so on."

"Don't worry, I don't plan to exchange you with any of them." Akula flashed him an outraged stare for even considering the idea. "I'm just having a look around, keep calm."

"Shut up, Shushus!" came an angry bellowing from the back shop. The storekeeper emerged, and his rather expansive black hair made it clear where his nickname 'Shaggy' came from. He had the dark blue skin typical of the Osamodas, and somehow managed to be more wide than tall. He immediately cast a glance at Akula, then smiled at Lucien.

"Greetings dear customer. I can see you're not one of those tourists who think they can visit my shop like it's a zoo or something. You're here to buy?"

"Actually I was just here to play the tourist," Lucien replied politely. "And also wondering, do you have a license to sell that kind of...merchandise?"

"A license, in Brakmar?" The plump man emitted a raucous chuckle. "Let's just say I can put enough money in the hands that matter, and it's all the licenses I need. This job doesn't require a license anyway. It takes someone who will never fall for their dirty tricks to get free."

"Show-off," sneered a rather threateningly large war hammer on the wall. Shaggy cast him a dark glance and the Shushu didn't insist. Lucien was surprised to see the man have such authority over demons, but maybe it was the same Osamodas' trait that worked with wild animals.

"Anyway, what are you looking for? Weaponry? Mass-killing tools?"

"I'm already equipped for that," Lucien retorted, raising his right arm to show Akula on his wrist. The Shushu casually extended her blade while fluttering her eyelashes seductively.

"It's...rather small," Shaggy noted.

"Size doesn't matter, it's how you use it," Akula jeered. Lucien raised an eyebrow but he said nothing.

"Fair enough. What else then? I have shields, armours, jewellery..."

Lucien hesitated. He hoped to find something he didn't already see before. "Anything more original than that?"

"Hmm...I might have something for you, it's original enough not to be on sale. Follow me."

Shaggy led them to the back shop, a small, badly lit room with a workshop occupying most of the space. More Shushus were stored there, and Lucien could understand why. Every one of them looked battered and worn, blunt blades, dented shields, and nobody in his right mind would ever spend a single kama on them.

"It's all the broken stuff I'm refurbishing to make them saleable," Shaggy explained. "Shushus are extremely resilient, but given enough abuse they'll waver like anything else. These little guys here have been through a lot. Anyway, here's the thing I wanted to show you."

He gestured them towards a furry black cloak laying on the workbench, its single eye encased into a golden frame. The eye kept staring upwards, as if the Shushu didn't notice them.

"I've no idea what it is," Shaggy said.

"Well, it's a cloak," Lucien offered.

"Thank you very much, mister obvious. I can see it's a cloak, but I don't know what it does. He didn't say a word since he arrived here yesterday. I have some contacts who provide me with unknown Shushus to resell, as long as I don't ask stupid questions, like, 'How did you get this?' and, 'Does your government know about this?'"

Lucien nodded as he understood perfectly well what it meant. He was not entitled to judge about the morality of other people's businesses, but if it was bad enough to justify an execution he would know soon enough anyway.

"This one here was on a boat a few days ago, and I got it for a handful of kamas since no one knows what it's really worth. Apparently it was buried at the bottom of a mine when they found it first, that's why it looks all ragged like that."

Lucien suddenly felt Akula constricting around his wrist almost painfully to get his attention. He raised her close to his face.

"We have to get out of here," she whispered urgently.

"What's up? It's just a cloak."

"It's not _just a cloak_. Listen to me for once. We need to get away."

Lucien sighed heavily. It wasn't the first time she threw a tantrum when other Shushus were around, and Lucien knew why. Her only fear was to be abandoned again. And every time there was a remote possibility that another Shushu would enter their lives, she became irrational and jealous. It wasn't anything new.

She was the only reason Lucien had to use regular sabres. He had found twin Shushus years before that were perfect for the job, but Akula became so irritable in their presence that he finally had to get rid of them.

There was no doubt in his mind that she was acting like a child again, just because he found a ragged Shushu-cloak to be remotely interesting.

"A problem?" Shaggy asked.

"No," Lucien answered lightly. "Did you try putting it on?"

"Yes. It does nothing."

"May I try?"

For all answer, Shaggy gestured him towards the cloak. Lucien put his hands on the thick black fur, realising that the cloak was likely much better looking before being buried in a cave for a while. The black fabric had been punctured all over. In any case, a Shushu cloak was unheard of, and...

Lucien noticed that for the first time, all the Shushus around were silent. They stared intently at him, as if they were...afraid of something. Then he looked down and realised that the one eye of the Shushu-cloak had moved to meet his own gaze.

Pain.

Lucien had a life-long experience of pain, every sorts of pain, but the pain of someone or _something_ brutally forcing the entrance to his mind was definitely a new kind of pain.

"What an interesting little worm of a human we have here..." came a deep, growling voice. "Your soul is so dark, I've never seen anything quite like this with a human."

Lucien had lost touch with the real world, and he realised he heard the voice right inside his head. Scenes from his recent contracts came back to his mind. The Shushu was probing into his memories.

_I'm going to die_, Lucien thought as the pain became truly excruciating.

"Oh no, don't worry about that. I'm just having a little look around. So you kill people for your master? At least we have that in common."

Images kept on passing before his eyes as he wasn't able to control anything, further and further into his past.

"How can a mere human be filled with so much bitterness. What did they inflict on you that made you so _cynical_?"

Memories from his first years as an agent of the Guild came back, from a time when he still felt he was making a difference, correcting the injustice he had been the victim of.

"That's some youthful naiveté I see there, when you still thought some humans had goodness inside of them. I've seen into countless humans, both figuratively and literally, and I can tell you it's always rotten inside."

His training at the Guild passed before his eyes, when he was barely more than a boy. The Master had taught him personally everything there was to know about sword-fighting, infiltration and assassination. He was thirteen on the day he killed his first man. On the day he learnt the hard way that revenge didn't make one feel better.

"He hurt you, so you hurt him, only to find out that it doesn't make the pain go away."

Lucien wished the pain would go away. It was like a drill piercing through his skull.

He was now a little boy, only skin and bones, begging in the streets of Brakmar, earning barely enough to survive until the next day. If he hadn't crossed the path of the Master, his pitiful life would have ended just like that.

"For sure you weren't a pampered little kid. Everyone learns that life isn't fair at some point, but you didn't lose your time to find out."

At six years old he didn't understand much, but he did remember. He lived with his single mother in a tiny room under the roof of a large, lavish manor in Brakmar. He was not allowed into the building, but he sneaked out often, developing his gift for discretion. His mother was doing chores for the owner. She didn't get paid, and they were starving.

At that time Lucien didn't realise they were slaves, but he didn't realise much anyway.

Then one day the owner decided he had had enough of them. He wanted a younger, prettier slave, for different purposes, and most of all one that didn't have a little kid to feed. He showed up into their room armed with a sword. His mother bought Lucien just enough time to flee through the window, at the cost of her own life.

Only the burning desire for revenge had kept him alive during the years he spent alone on the streets afterwards.

_You're happy now?_ he thought bitterly for the Shushu still torturing him, although the pain was now receding somewhat.

"I am. A human who has good reasons to hate humans. The occasion is too good to pass. I could possess you, make you my toy, but that would be an incredible waste of unaccomplished potential. We could achieve great things together. If you get me out of here, we'll discuss a plan to make your dreams of seeing the world burn come true."

And if I don't?

"Then nothing. I'll wait for the next worthy candidate. I'll release you now, so the rest is up to you."

Lucien came back to reality just as abruptly as he had left it. He was surprised to see he was still standing, his shaking hands still on the cloak.

"What happened?" he asked urgently.

"What...what?" Shaggy answered, utterly confused.

"What did I do just now?"

"Nothing. You just put your hands on that thing. What is that supposed to mean?"

Lucien realised his own private nightmare had lasted for only a short moment. But he didn't doubt it actually happened, albeit only inside his own head. The Shushu-cloak was still looking at him, and he knew enough about what a Shushu could express with only its single eye to know what relaxed confidence was like.

There wasn't much of a doubt anyway. He knew perfectly well it was a dangerous move to trust a Shushu, but the beast had touched him into some parts of his mind that had been hurting forever. Countless people everywhere were maintained into various degrees of servitude by an unfair society, and fate just sent his way a powerful ally who promised he would allow him to make a difference. An occasion too good to pass indeed. Curiosity got the better of his judgement, and Akula's whimper didn't change anything.

"It does nothing but it's rather unique," Lucien said calmly. "Let's say, fifty kamas?"

* * *

_A/N_

_Sorry for the long wait! I'm trying to do a chapter each month, and with a size equivalent to one chapter, Memories kinda replaced the last update. It was intended to be a side thing, and real life unexpectedly got in the way, leaving me with too little free time for everything._

_Nothing much to say about this chapter except I had to split it earlier than intended seeing how the length was getting out of control. The fighting scene between Yugo and Tristepin was a pleasure to write, after all what is a good moment for Tristepin apart from a good fight? Also I'm sorry if I offended sword-fighting purists, I don't know anything about it and had to look up online for some hopefully reliable info. The right-handed shield seems to be a real oddity, and yes, it's in the show. Here is the most funny thing I came across about it :_

"Stabbing, slashing, or punching a disabling blow is going to take a lot of strength, and if any civilization used its dominant arm for shielding instead of swording, it's not likely to have lasted long enough to have a written history."

_I have no clue how well I'm doing with those OCs, so if there's something you don't like about them feel free to tell, it's never too late to correct mistakes._

_A Iop, a Cra and an Enutrof play the Nose Game. Why does the Iop always lose?_


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